Bean

I.

INTRODUCTION

Eric Lazear, an employee of appellant Pacific Coast Elevator Corporation (Pacific Coast), ran his vehicle into respondent Daniel William Bean’s truck while Bean was stopped at a red light. Bean suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident and sued Pacific Coast. A jury found Pacific Coast negligent and awarded Bean $1,271,594.74 in damages, including $126,594.74 in economic damages, and $1,145,000 in noneconomic damages. The trial court denied Pacific Coast’s motion for new trial, granted Bean’s motion for prejudgment interest, and awarded Bean $34,830 in costs. The court entered judgment in the amount of $1,306,424.74 in Bean’s favor and ordered prejudgment interest to be calculated on the entire judgment.

On appeal, Pacific Coast contends that the jury’s noneconomic damages award is excessive, that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the basic speed law, and that Bean’s counsel committed misconduct during the trial. Pacific Coast further contends that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that Bean’s Code of Civil Procedure section 998 1 pretrial offer to settle was reasonable and made in good faith. Finally, Pacific…