Parent's Responsibility for Teenager's Accidents

A person who is injured in a car accident may file a personal injury lawsuit against the people responsible for the accident. The plaintiff will claim that he or she was injured due to the defendant's negligence. If the defendant is a teenage driver, his or her parents can sometimes be held responsible for their teenage driver's negligence.

Standard of Care for Teenage Motorists

A motorist has a duty to exercise care to avoid injuring other people while driving. The standard of care, or how the motorist should conduct himself while driving, is referred to as due care or reasonable care under the circumstances. Usually, a teenage motorist is held to the same degree of care as an adult while driving an automobile. Courts reason that a teenager who engages in an adult activity should be held to an adult standard of care.

Lawsuits against a Teenage Driver's Parents

A parent generally is not liable for his teenager's negligent operation of an automobile. However, a parent can be held responsible for his teenager's actions when:

• The parent negligently allows his or her teenager to drive with knowledge that the teenager is incompetent or reckless and another person is then injured due to the teenager's negligent or reckless driving
• The parent fails to supervise a teenager who negligently injures someone while driving
• The teenager is the agent of his or her parent and the teenager negligently injures someone, for example where the teenager is working for his or her parent
• The teenager is driving the family car for a family purpose and with the parent's consent, and the teenager negligently injures someone, for example an accident happens while the teenager is running household errands

Some states have enacted laws imposing liability on parents for the negligent driving of their teenage children. The laws typically apply to parents who provide a car to a minor to drive on public streets and roads. However, if the teenager drives without the parent's consent, the use of the car is unauthorized, and the parent may not be liable for the teenager's negligence. Similarly, if a parent does not have custody of the teenager, these laws usually do not apply.

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