When you exchange information with a driver after the accident or when you go to file an insurance claim, you may learn that they were behind the wheel of a borrowed car. Then, you may have questions about who you might sue for your injuries. The driver is usually the one to blame for your injuries, although you might pursue compensation from others for your injuries.
Always consult a Pembroke Pines car accident lawyer to learn more about your legal rights and who you may hold accountable for your injuries. Your attorney can handle the often complicated web of insurance claims that follows in such situations.
The Driver is Most Often Liable for Your Injuries
In most cases, the driver is legally responsible for injuries they cause while behind the wheel. Ordinarily, the vehicle owner is not liable for injuries someone else causes while driving their car because they were not the ones who were negligent.
However, some circumstances can also allow you to sue the car’s owner. A car accident lawyer will review the facts of your case to determine who you may pursue for your deserved compensation.
To win a car accident case, you need to prove that someone acted unreasonably under the circumstances. Usually, it is the car’s driver because they did something careless or unsafe that led them to hit your car. This means your case for car accident injuries will be against the person driving the vehicle in the crash. The car’s owner is not automatically negligent just because they lent their vehicle to a driver who caused a collision.
In a car accident case, negligence means the following:
- Someone owed you the duty of care
- They breached their duty of care because they acted in a way that a reasonable person would not have
- You suffered an injury
- You would not have been injured were it not for the actions of the other party
Once you come to the table with evidence to prove each of these four elements, you should be entitled to financial compensation from the negligent party. Most often, it is the other driver who owes you money. You can file a claim against their insurance policy because car insurance follows the driver, not the car.
You Might Sue the Car’s Owner for Negligent Entrustment Under Some Circumstances
The car’s owner might also be responsible when they negligently entrusted their vehicle to someone else to drive. An owner can be responsible when they willingly give their car to someone else, knowing the possible risks of harm the driver presents. For example, a car’s owner should never give the keys to a driver who they know to be intoxicated. If the car’s owner knows the driver they are lending their car to is extremely risky and has a history of reckless driving, you may hold the owner liable for negligent entrustment.
The key to a negligent entrustment case is proving the owner had knowledge of the potential risks the driver posed and still lent their car to the motorist anyway. You must prove what the owner may have known and when they knew it. The car’s owner cannot be deliberately blind to the risks.
It is difficult to prove what someone knew in their mind, though there are ways to prove constructive knowledge of the situation. The car’s owner may have been drinking excessively with the driver for hours before they handed over the keys. Even though you cannot get inside the vehicle owner’s head, you can infer knowledge of intoxication from the circumstances of the situation. Then, you might sue both the driver and the owner.
Negligent entrustment claims are highly challenging, though sometimes necessary and beneficial. You need an experienced car accident attorney to gather evidence and determine whether you can prove this type of claim based on circumstantial evidence.
You Might Sue the Driver’s Employer if They Owned the Car
There may be other circumstances where you can hold the car’s owner liable for your injuries. The driver may have been on the job at the time of the accident. In this case, they may have been driving a vehicle owned by their employer.
Because the driver was on the job at the time of the crash, you may hold their employer, also the vehicle’s owner, vicariously liable under the legal theory of respondeat superior. However, the employer’s liability is premised on the fact that the driver was their agent, not that the company owned and lent the vehicle itself.
It Is Difficult to Sue a Rental Car Agency Under Most Circumstances
Another complex situation may arise when the car’s owner is a rental agency. When a driver rents a car, the rental agency is usually not liable for the damages the renter causes unless the company commits negligent entrustment. Car rental companies may check a driver’s record before they rent the car. The company might be liable if they rented a car to someone who was an obvious risk, but that rarely happens. It is very rare that you can sue the car rental company for a rental driver’s actions.
Your Car Accident Attorney Can Determine Who is Liable
Your car accident lawyer will conduct a complete investigation of the accident to determine who you may pursue compensation from. If they learned that the driver was behind the wheel of a borrowed car, they may conduct an additional investigation to learn whether you may sue the owner.
However, the circumstances under which you can file a claim against a car owner are uncommon. In many cases, the vehicle’s owner lent the car to the driver in good faith, thinking they were entirely safe and there was no risk to anyone else. Nonetheless, a car accident attorney should cast as wide of a net as possible to maximize the compensation you can receive.
Always get legal help from an experienced Pembroke Pines personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after the crash. You want them to leave no stone unturned regarding liability.
