When Are You Liable For Another Person Driving Your Vehicle

In this video, attorney Ted Spaulding details in what instance you can be help responsible for another person driving your car and getting into an accident. He explains how insurance coverage works in this scenario. 

When are you liable when another person is driving your vehicle and gets in an accident? Hi, I’m Ted Spaulding, an Atlanta personal injury trial lawyer, and the founder here at Spaulding Injury Law. So, this is an important question. You have lent your vehicle to a friend, a family member, and they’ve gone out and wrecked your vehicle with someone else and injured them and obviously, damaged that vehicle as well. So, when are you liable?

Well, the answer is, very rarely are you independently liable. And that’s where people get confused because, well, wait a minute, my insurance is covering this? Well, yes, your insurance, your auto insurance follows the vehicle. Okay. And as long as you have given that vehicle to someone, meaning you gave them permission to drive it, your auto insurance should cover for the negligence of that party. But you’re not legally liable, meaning the injured party can’t come after you personally in most situations.

The typical situation where you could be is if you lent that vehicle to someone who, let’s say was knowingly drunk or high, or you knew in advance had been in a ton of other wrecks. So, you knew they were a dangerous driver. That may lead to liability on your behalf, separate from the negligent acts by that person. But guess what? Your auto insurance still covers you for that. So, that’s why you have auto insurance. And it always would be a good thing to have additional coverages, just in case like an umbrella policy, and those sorts of things.

So, the short answer is, it’s very rare that you’re gonna be liable for the negligent acts of another party driving your vehicle. Your auto insurance will cover, but not because you are liable. Anyway, I hope that answers that question for you. If you have any questions or concerns about this topic, or you have a potential case you would like to see if my firm can handle, comment to this video below. Go to my website spauldinginjurylaw.com. We have a contact form on there that you can fill out and two phone numbers for you as well, 770-744-0890 and 470-695-9950. Thank you so much for watching this video.