ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Negligence

Automobile Collisions

A neighbor who rides with me to work was injured when I got into a car accident. Do I have to pay her medical bills?

In many states today (about half), no-fault automobile insurance would protect you--and often passengers in your car--by compensating those injured up to a specified level, regardless of who was at fault in the accident.

A few states still have automobile guest statutes, although there is a strong trend away from them. Many of these statutes have been repealed by legislatures or ruled unconstitutional by courts. These statutes make drivers liable for injuries to nonpaying or guest passengers only if the drivers were "grossly negligent" by failing to use even slight care in their driving. In jurisdictions that still have such laws, the parties often litigate over whether the passenger was a guest. A neighbor also may be able to recover from you under ordinary negligence principles if she can prove that she was not a guest passenger by showing that both of you agreed to share expenses.

Courts also have held a driver liable for the negligent operation of a car and for harm caused by known defects, but not for injuries caused by defects in the vehicle about which the driver had no knowledge.