Suppose you witness a terrible personal injury accident in San Francisco – like a pedestrian getting hit by a bus – and it gives you nightmares, cold sweats, and makes you fear buses or even pedestrians. Can you sue because of your obvious emotional distress or trauma?
The answer is probably not. However, lets change our personal injury accident up a little.
Let’s say you are waiting for the bus, because your mother is on it, and you witness the same accident. And when the bus driver slams on the brakes in an effort to avoid the pedestrian your mother is knocked to the floor and injures herself. And let’s assume you see her fall and you have all the same emotional distress issues as in the first scenario. Now can you sue? You betcha!
If someone witnesses an injury inflicted upon someone with whom they have a close family relationship, then that person would have a right to recover damages for the resulting emotional distress or trauma. And, of course, if you suffer a personal injury yourself you can recover for any emotional distress or trauma that you suffered due to your own injuries or accident.
