A Mississippi jury awarded a man more than $1.7 million after it found that a trucker was negligent when he blew his 145-decibel horn — designed for a train — at the man who was working 6-8 feet from the truck, causing permanent hearing loss.

The jury awarded Jerry Kelly of Bolton, Miss., a total of $1,787,597 — including $1.5 million for pain and suffering.

Under Mississippi tort law, however, non-economic damages are capped at $500,00, meaning Kelly’s final award will be $787,597.

The incident which led to Kelly’s lawsuit in Hinds County (Miss.) Circuit Court occurred in May 2020. Kelly, a 20-year veteran of commercial paving, was working at a job site in Florence, Miss. — just south of the capital city of Jackson — laying asphalt, according to court records.

Jerry Garland was driving his truck at the same job site as Kelly. Both were working for Adcamp, a commercial paving contractor, at the time — Garland as an independent contractor; Kelly as an Adcamp employee.

Driving his truck, Garland came upon Kelly’s worksite, believing Kelly was blocking his path. Kelly would later say there was room for Garland to have maneuvered his truck around Kelly.

While the two men dispute whether there was room for Garland to go around, there was no dispute what happened next.

Garland, impatient to continue on his way, leaned on his truck horn, with Kelly standing about 6-8 feet away from the truck.

Garland’s truck had been affixed with a 145-decibel horn — a three-tubed trumpet, designed for trains. The 145 decibels emitted by the horn are well above the OSHA limit of 115.

The company that manufactures the horn, in fact, has a warning posted about the horn on its website. Kelly’s attorneys successfully argued that Garland was negligent when he blew the horn at Kelly because he knew the danger to hearing.

Garland leaned on the horn for approximately 10 seconds. The sound was so loud witnesses would later describe it as similar to “placing your head next to a jet engine.”

Kelly, who wasn’t wearing any hearing protection, suffered immediate pain in his ears, as well as drainage. He sought treatment the following day. The hearing loss became worse over time, despite treatment, and it was ultimately diagnosed as permanent.

Kelly would later be diagnosed with a brain tumor and vision loss, although experts testified in court and Kelly’s attorneys acknowledged those conditions were not caused by the horn incident.

In court, although Garland admitted there was no traffic behind him, there was no deadline for him to arrive at a destination at a certain time, and no emergency existed, he and his attorneys nevertheless argued Garland was not negligent in blowing his horn at Kelly.

Defense attorneys also attempted to downplay the injury suffered by Kelly in the incident, with an expert testifying that the hearing loss could be related to his 27-years working in heavy construction.

Ultimately, however, the jury sided with Kelly, awarding him:

• $6,483 for medical expenses
• $66,794 for future care
• Lost wages of $4,320
• Future lost wages of $150,000
• Loss of household services: $60,000
• $1.5 million for pain and suffering, although as noted above that amount will be reduced to the $500,000 cap under Mississippi law.