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Passenger Rights in Auto Accidents
Have you ever wondered what rights you have as a passenger or a “ride-along” in an auto accident? In such situations, you and your loved ones may have a legal right to claim payments for your injury losses. The driver of the vehicle may actually have a harder time asserting their legal rights compared to the passenger.
Who is liable?
In almost every auto accident case, the driver is liable. You as a passenger only needs to prove costs or damages that result from injuries or other traumas related to a crash. However, if you behaved in a way that may have caused the accident, you may not get compensation.
For example, you may not be able to sue for damages if you distracted the driver, did not wear your seat belt, encouraged the driver to speed and so on. In a court, such actions can be described as negligent and may not necessarily make you liable for the accident. Negligence and liability have distinct differences.
Which driver is liable?
Sometimes where two drivers are involved both drivers can share liability. You, the passenger, may need an injury lawyer to help you file claims with each driver’s insurance company and negotiate adequate compensation.
But you may be forced to wait longer for your claim to be settled if there is a dispute between the two drivers on who has more liability. The insurer of the driver found to have more liability may also fight for a reduction in liability as the passenger waits to get paid.
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What if several passengers are injured
When several passengers are injured, each passenger will have a different claim for damages. But their combined claims may exceed the limits of the insurance policy of the at-fault driver. This means that each passenger may have to settle for less money than they deserve.
Passengers can also file a claim against each driver’s insurance policy if more than one driver was partly responsible for the accident. In this situation where multiple claims are filed, each passenger involved may get adequate compensation or receive money that their claim is worth.
However, just like med pay coverage, you are not allowed to receive more money that your claim is worth. Sometimes the drivers involved in the accident have no insurance or sometimes only one has insurance. These are the reasons why routine car accidents where multiple passengers get injured can sometimes turn into a legal nightmare.
An attorney experienced in handling such cases can help you gather all the evidence you need and negotiate a fair settlement with the defendant’s insurance company.
Insurance companies
You can make a claim strictly for medical payments or med pay, under your own insurance policy as you wait for a claim to be settled. If that does not cover all your medical expenses, you can file a claim with the insurance policies of the at-fault driver or drivers. In a situation where the passengers are related to the drivers, the passengers cannot file a claim against the driver’s insurer. All in all if you are having trouble collecting payments for your injury, contact an experienced lawyer for legal advice.