How accident caused by teenage driver will be dealt?

How accident caused by teenage driver will be dealt?

By state's law, the driver at fault should shoulder every liabilities that he should be responsible of following a car accident along road, this includes medical bills, property damage as well as possible and estimated days of loss of income done to his/her victims. But, what if the victim is a teenager? How is this dealt with the victim driver, parents of the teenager and their insurer?

Responsibility shouldered by Parents

When the teenager caused the accident for it to occur, his or her parents are possibly held responsible and their insurers may possibly pay for the compensation pay since the driver is the teenager, it is possible that car is under parent's insurance policy. 

In most states, law describes and stresses out financial liability from parents whose child causes injuries, property damage in any form or even dealt death to someone. Aside from fines, they are as well susceptible for imprisonment depending on the degree of offense done by their child, some of them are vandalism, violence and other form of misconducts.

Though, unlike liability for vandalism and violence, liability for vehicle is different thing, it is complex as it involves large sum of money, injuries are sustained and alike things. Naturally, teens under 18 doesn't have insurance on their own, so the parents suffer from financial and liability bombardments and car as well is listed under parent's insurance too. Multiple reasons for passing the liability to his or her parents but once he had his own car and insurance, the victim may file claim against the teenager own insurance policy.  

Teen Accident Prevalence

These statistics are according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) study at these past few years on how prevalent teen accident are and as well as their tendencies when doing so and its causes:

• Everyday, averaging of 9 individuals aging 16 to 19 years old are killed or fatally involved in a motor vehicle accident.
• In crashes, 2,739 teens aging 15-20 were killed and 228,000 were injured in year 2019. And, total of 4,054 teens between the ages of 13-19 died in car accidents, majority or 81% of teens killed in car accidents were passengers.
• 40% of motor vehicle crash deaths among nighttime teen drivers and passengers aged 13–19 occurred between 9 pm and 6 am, and 52% occurred on weekends. 
• Compared to older drivers, teens go through dangerous traffic scenarios and commit fatal errors during important moments while driving that leads to serious crashes and fatalities. 
• More than 43% of american highschool students practice unrestrained driving as a occupant recorded in 2019.
• In the same year, 39% of teen drivers practice distracted driving which consists of texting or emailing atleast once in a month. 
• In 2018, it is found out the male tend to be victim of most teenage driver related car crash compared to female, as 30% of male drivers are involved in the total crashes while 18% on female, common reason among those crashes were speeding. 
• Alcohol also plays big factor on happening of a car crash, since most teen drivers tend to have higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) compared to numbers of older drivers who does. 

For under 18 teens, parents should agree and sign a driver's license application, where it states that parents are held liable for any damage the child may possible deal while driving a car. It has been made clear in the papers that parents should be held responsible and teens should be driving with permission as they drive over their parents' car too, if they don't they should be reprimanded and be stopped. 

Involvement of a Teen Driver in an Accident as At-Fault 

If you were involved recently in an accident, you can always file against the parents of the teen at-fault insurers an injury claim to grant you your compensation pay. Thoughm the task isn't managable with only one person processing it, it takes a lawyer as well that looks up to police reports and other form of evidences and narratives to further strengthen your case and of the chance of increasing the value of your claim. Ryan LLP is an Ohio based injury attorneys that represents victims of personal injury, wrongful death, and medical malpractice. Call our office now for free legal consultation.