State caps on noneconomic damages in commercial-vehicle crashes

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Sedgwick’s Summer 2026 report found settlement severity rose 12.6% annually over five years while verdict severity rose about 3.7% — roughly inflation — concluding that escalation is driven more by voluntary settlements than by jury verdicts. A verdict cap would address the wrong door. | Sedgwick, Summer 2026 severity report (VERIFY)
Sedgwick attributes the gap to defence behaviour: "defence decision-making appears to be shaped by fear and distorted perceptions of jury behavior rather than empirical trial outcomes." | Sedgwick, Summer 2026 severity report (VERIFY)
Insurers hold the data that would settle the question — whether payouts and premiums fell in cap states, and whether loss ratios are worse in cities where nuclear verdicts are said to be common — and have not published it. Law professor Kenneth Klein’s framing: if the obvious way to make a case is not the way the entity holding the data makes it, that is a weakness in the case. | Kenneth Klein, quoted in legislative testimony (VERIFY)
Caps limit recovery for the most catastrophically injured, whose losses are largely noneconomic, and reduce the deterrent facing operators with poor safety records. Opponents (Center for Justice & Democracy, AAJ, Public Justice) argue large verdicts serve an accountability function. | CJ&D / AAJ / Public Justice published positions (VERIFY)
Swiss Re’s 2025 study found 76% of U.S. consumers believe jury damage awards are too low, up from 58% in 2016 and rising to 83% among adults under 40 — jury pools are moving against caps regardless of what legislatures do. | Swiss Re 2025 consumer study (VERIFY)

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