Who Is Liable in a Car Accident?
Most car crash claims start with the other driver, but the driver is not always the only responsible party. An employer, the vehicle owner, a government agency or a parts maker can also play a role. Identifying every party with legal responsibility is an early task for a car accident lawyer, because each party may have separate insurance.
Claims against the driver
A negligence claim asks whether a driver failed to use reasonable care. Common examples include speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, following too closely and failing to yield. In many states, a traffic law violation can serve as evidence of negligence, and some states apply negligence per se. A citation can help a claim, but it is not required to prove fault, and the effect of paying a ticket differs by state. A car accident attorney will compare the driver's conduct with the traffic laws of the state where the crash happened.
Owners and rental companies
If the driver borrowed the car, the owner's insurance policy often covers permissive drivers. The owner may also face a negligent entrustment claim for lending a car to someone known to be unlicensed, impaired or unsafe. Rental and leasing companies are treated differently. Under a federal law called the Graves Amendment, they are generally shielded from liability for a renter's negligence, unless the company itself was negligent, for example by renting out a car with a known brake defect.
Drivers on the job
When a driver is working within the scope of employment, the employer is generally responsible for the driver's negligence under respondeat superior. This can cover delivery drivers, sales staff and others who drive as part of the job. Rideshare crashes raise their own coverage questions, because the coverage that applies can depend on whether the app was on and whether a ride had been accepted. A car accident lawyer will usually ask for the employer's policy along with the driver's own.
Government agencies and manufacturers
A missing stop sign, a broken traffic signal or a dangerous road defect may point to a government agency. Claims against cities, counties and states face special immunity rules and short notice deadlines, and those rules vary by state. If a defective tire, brake or airbag contributed to the crash or the injuries, the manufacturer may face a product liability claim. Open recalls can be checked with the vehicle identification number on the NHTSA recall lookup. In some states, a bar that served a visibly intoxicated driver may face a dram shop claim.
When a passenger is hurt
Passengers who are hurt may have claims against one driver or both, including the driver of the car they were riding in. Coverage can come from the policy on the car the passenger rode in and from the other driver's policy, and in some cases from the passenger's own policy. Some policies limit claims between members of the same household, so the exact policy language matters.
How shared fault affects the claim
Most states apply comparative negligence, which can reduce a recovery by the injured person's share of fault, while a few jurisdictions still follow contributory negligence. How fault is divided among several defendants also varies by state. A car wreck lawyer reviews every possible party, since a single policy may not cover the whole loss. This is general information and not legal advice, and it cannot predict how a claim will turn out.