What If You Are A Passenger & Are Injured?
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Quite often in personal injury lawsuits involving vehicular accidents, we look at the results of “driver versus driver.” That is to say, we think in terms of what happens when one driver is responsible for an accident, and another driver is injured as a result.But vehicular transportation is rarely about single instances of one driver and another in their vehicle. In many cases, people in cars will be carrying passengers as well. So if you get involved in an accident in a car, and you are injured as a result, but are a passenger, does this change things?
As a matter of fact it does. And in some ways, it may make things even simpler.
The Passenger Injury Claim
As a passenger in a vehicle, you have a much easier time pursuing a personal injury case because, in the vast majority of cases, you have zero liability. This simply means that because you are not driving the vehicle, there is very little chance that you will be at fault for the events that resulted in an accident. This is assuming, of course, that you weren’t doing anything to directly interfere with the driving process, such as shining lights in the eyes of drivers, or other obvious violations.
However, the interesting thing about a passenger injury claim is that it is valid even if you are in the vehicle of the party that caused the accident. Once again, because you are a passenger—assuming you are not a contributing factor—then if the driver you are with was distracted, drunk, or inattentive, this has no bearing on your legal position. If it results in you also getting injured, then you may have a legal option to also pursue a personal injury case, just like the people in the other vehicle.
More Legal Options
Being a passenger that is injured in a car accident is one of the few legal circumstances where even if there is an accident with comparative negligence, that is to say, both drivers are at fault, the passengers don’t have to worry. It is actually possible in such a circumstance for passengers to file passenger injury claims that would require compensation from both drivers.
Even if it is an accident in which no other cars are involved, such as a driver losing control of the vehicle, leaving the road and hitting a tree, if you are a passenger, and it can be proven that the driver was negligent, you still have a passenger injury claim. Passengers are not considered liable unless there is evidence to suggest that the passengers were also contributing to the negligence.
However, if you, as a passenger, were not wearing a seatbelt when an accident occurred, this may lessen the amount of compensation possible in a personal injury case. This is because if it can be proven that your injuries could have been easily avoided had you been wearing a seatbelt, then some blame for your injuries may lie on your shoulders.
If you are a passenger in a car that gets involved in an accident, and you get injured, stand up for your rights. Talk to a St. Pete lawyer and get justice and compensation that is due to you.