How Responsible Are You For Your Child’s Actions?
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
There is that awkward period of time between your child being too young to really take care of him or herself, and not yet being a legal adult, but wanting the freedoms and ability to choose that an adult has. These are, of course, the teenage years. And while it’s understandable that there’s going to be a bit of tension and soul searching as young people try to define themselves during these years, they are still considered minors by the law until they are 18.And that means that even though they can get in a car and drive it by the age of 16, they’re still minors behind the wheel of a vehicle. So what happens when a minor gets into a car accident and that minor is at fault?
Your Child, Your Consequences
In the state of Florida, things are pretty simple. As long as your child is still a minor, you face joint legal and financial responsibility for anything that the child does, including traffic accidents or, more embarrassingly, acts of vandalism or assault. In some cases, you may even face more responsibility if it comes out in court that you were aware of your child’s vandalizing tendencies or poor road attentiveness, but took no additional measures to prevent them from committing these acts.
So, for example, your child makes the mistake of driving to a party, getting drunk while there, then insisting on driving home and getting into an accident. The police test the child positively for being under the influence while driving, and being a minor, the child will face some legal repercussions. You, as the parent, will face the full financial consequences when it comes time for insurance companies to work out the damage. And if there are actual injuries involved, you will be responsible for these as well.
The same holds true for children in other situations. If your child is a bully and inflicts damage on another child at school that result in a serious injury, you, as a parent, cannot escape some of the legal/financial responsibility that may result from hospital treatment if the incident was serious enough to warrant it. This is especially true if you knew your child was a bully but took no action to try to correct the behavior.
Be A Parent
Ultimately, if you want to have children, one of the things you must be prepared to do is own up to their actions. It’s easy to take credit for being a good parent if a child achieves something admirable like winning a notable award, but in the same way, you cannot escape your obligations if your child commits an act that results in injury, especially if you knew your child might be capable of doing this, but took no action.
If you don’t want to face a negligence lawsuit or some other civil case as a result of your child’s actions, take steps now. If you know your child is capable of regular distracted driving, or resorting to violence against others in school, start thinking about forms of discipline or treatment to address this. If you don’t, the next bill you pay may be served by a personal injury lawyer for something you didn’t even do.