Imagine the following: You’ve helped out a friend by lending them your car for the day, but as they leave, say, a parking lot, they look down at their phone for a moment and hit another vehicle. The crash causes injuries that are significant enough to allow the victim to file a lawsuit, no matter the kind of insurance they have. The question, then, is simple: Who’s liable?
These kinds of borrowed car accidents are particularly tricky; you, as the car’s owner, can be personally responsible for any injuries and property loss that the vehicle causes via a legal doctrine called vicarious liability. Liability can come down to a number of factors, however, and as the owner of the vehicle, you’re not necessarily always responsible.
Suppose that hypothetical scenario becomes a reality; in that case, one of the most important things you can do (besides learning more about borrowed car accidents and why it’s essential to always think carefully before lending your vehicle) is to hire a team of top rated Pennsylvania car accident lawyers to represent you. With the right team beside you, it can be easier to understand what your legal options look like.
What Happens if Someone Else is Driving My Car and Gets in an Accident in Pennsylvania?
We are often asked about how insurance and liability works in borrowed car accidents, and also about what happens if someone who isn’t on your insurance crashes your car. When considering liability in Pennsylvania car accidents, it’s essential to understand the Pennsylvania’s no-fault insurance laws.
For one thing, the insurance coverage you have applies to the car, not you. What that means is that no matter who is responsible for the collision, your insurance will kick in as the primary source of compensation for any injuries and lost wages that occur.
Additionally, Pennsylvania is one of just three states that have “choice” auto insurance, meaning you can decide whether you want limited tort or full tort insurance. Limited tort is much more affordable, but it only allows you to recover a limited amount of medical expenses and lost wages. You also cannot file a lawsuit against the other party unless you suffer a serious injury; in Pennsylvania, a serious injury refers to the severe and lasting impairment of a body function, permanent disfigurement, or death.
All of that is to say that if you have limited tort insurance and the person who borrowed your car suffers an injury that falls below the threshold of severity, only your personal injury protection (PIP) insurance will take effect and pay for their losses.
With full tort insurance, on the other hand, you have a chance to recover from your insurance and also file a lawsuit against the other party, no matter what injuries they (or your friend) sustained. Be that as it may, a lawsuit is only possible if you can demonstrate that the other party is the one most at fault for the collision.
There may be instances when you, as the vehicle’s owner, may be personally responsible for the losses, such as if your car isn’t fully insured or if the authorized driver of your vehicle causes an accident in which the losses exceed your car insurance policy.
What Is Implied Permission?
Implied permission is essentially what it sounds like: It refers to circumstances in which it would be easy to say that you allowed another individual to drive your car. Of course, implied permission is an important factor to be aware of in borrowed car accidents.
If someone were to steal your vehicle, it’s quite clear that you shouldn’t be held responsible for any potential accidents that the offender potentially causes, as they obviously did not have any permission to drive your car, implied or otherwise.
But let’s return to that scenario with your friend; it can be up to insurance companies to decide whether there was implied permission for them to borrow your car. The providers will look at a few factors, including whether you’ve ever previously loaned the vehicle to the person driving it. That could give your friend or acquaintance the assumption that they had ongoing permission.
Other factors insurers will look at include whether the car was in a location that was easily accessible and whether you and the person who borrowed your car share a residence.
If the insurance company determines that your friend did not have implied permission to drive the vehicle, their auto insurance policy will come into play, and your insurance will refuse any claims that are filed against it. If the insurer determines that your friend did, in fact, have implied permission, they will likely process the claims that result from that collision. And that means your rates will spike.
Because of what these claims could mean for your financial future, it’s essential that you contact a personal injury lawyer after a borrowed car accident.
What Are Some Scenarios When the Owner of the Car May Not Be Liable?
There may be instances in which you, as the car’s owner, are not responsible for a borrowed car accident. One of these is if the driver was intoxicated when they got into the accident. If your friend was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the moment they got into the borrowed car accident, they alone would be liable for any losses they cause.
The only exception to that would be if you knew they were intoxicated or planning on becoming intoxicated when you allowed them to borrow the car; in that instance, you can be liable.
You’re also not likely to be liable if the person who borrowed your car did not have a license but insinuated or made you believe they did. The driver would have lied to you to gain access to your car, so they would be liable for the losses they cause, not you.
Proving that someone took your vehicle without permission isn’t simple, but if you can demonstrate that you prohibited them from doing so, whether by email, text, or through witnesses who can attest to it, you can avoid becoming liable for the accident.
Even more difficult (but still possible) is stating that you did grant permission for the person to drive the car but then proving that they used it beyond the agreed purpose. If your friend asks to borrow your car to pick up a loved one at the airport but then takes it across state lines, there’s an argument to be made that you would not be responsible for the accidents that occur once they broke their agreement with you.
What Is Pennsylvania’s Negligent Entrustment Law?
In certain circumstances, the mere act of lending your car to someone else could mean you’re liable and responsible for any accidents that the person causes. Negligent entrustment can hold people liable who knew (or should have reasonably known) that the person they were lending the vehicle to was not a safe driver.
For example, if the driver didn’t have a license or never learned how to drive and you decided to lend them the vehicle anyway, you would have known they posed a danger to others on the road.
In a similar sense, if your friend has a physical or mental health condition that could make them a risk to others, and you still handed over the keys to your vehicle, that would make you liable as well. Both you and your friend would be jointly responsible for any injuries that occur in a borrowed car accident at that point.
What Happens When an Employee Crashes Their Company Car?
If an employee is driving a company vehicle while performing their duties, and they end up in a collision, determining who is liable can be tricky.
Employer Liability
In Pennsylvania, numerous legal theories can factor into determining whether an employer is responsible, beginning with respondeat superior. This legal principle states that employers are responsible for the actions of their subordinates while they are performing job-related activities. A delivery driver who causes a collision with a company vehicle would be a clear example of someone an employer is accountable for.
In instances when respondeat superior is invoked, both the employee and employer will be liable. In the example above, you may be able to avoid shouldering some of the fault if you can demonstrate that the driver wasn’t actually an employee or that they weren’t performing their job duties when the accident occurred.
Beyond respondeat superior, it’s also possible for an employer to be held responsible for an employee’s actions if there were negligent hiring practices at play. Employers who hire drivers owe others on the road a duty of care to only employ those who are capable of safely driving the company’s vehicles. In instances when driving a particular vehicle or providing the services that the employee was hired to do requires special training, employers must also ensure that their employees receive it before letting them on the road.
Additionally, if the company fails to perform background checks to ensure all drivers have valid licenses, for example, it can be held responsible. Similarly, if it hires a person with a substance use disorder who is not in recovery, that, too, could be seen as a negligent hiring practice.
Vicarious liability is another legal theory that could factor into borrowed car accidents. An employer can be held vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, contractors, and subcontractors. If any of these personnel is negligent while driving a work vehicle and the conduct leads to an accident, the employer could be automatically responsible.
When dealing with contractors, there are degrees of liability, however. If an employer has little control over the actions of their contractors or subcontractors, then their responsibility can be more limited. That’s not the case with employees.
Employee Liability
Although employers will usually bear a significant brunt of the liability when dealing with borrowed car accidents, employees are also legally responsible if they are negligent; that is, they fail to act with the level of care that another reasonable person would use in that same situation.
An employee can be negligent as a result of a number of behaviors, including distracted and intoxicated driving. Reckless driving, a set of actions and behaviors in which a vehicle’s operator proceeds with a disregard for the safety of others, is a negligent action as well, as is speeding. In some instances, using the company vehicle after work hours can also be seen as negligent, too.
Third-Party Liability
Although it’s far less common, third parties might also be responsible for an accident involving an employee in a company vehicle. One of the ways that could happen is if the vehicle itself malfunctions. If the brake system fails and leads to a collision, an investigation would be necessary to find out whether the issue was a result of a vehicular malfunction or driver error. If it was the former, the manufacturer could be liable.
In other instances, there could have been a maintenance issue that led to the collision. Many commercial vehicles go through extensive checks before getting on the road, but if the vehicle didn’t get assessed, that could point to negligence by the maintenance team.
When dealing with large vehicles, cargo that is improperly loaded can cause accidents, too. The cargo could fall during transport or shift, changing the vehicle’s center of gravity. If the loading company was negligent in the way it stocked the vehicle, it would be liable.
Skilled Pennsylvania Auto Accident Attorneys
Borrowed car accidents are always complex when it comes to determining exactly who will be liable for the losses the involved parties sustained. Because of these complications, having experienced auto accident attorneys by your side who know how to handle these cases can make a difference.
The team at Wilk Law Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers has years of experience helping the people of Pennsylvania through the aftermaths of vehicle collisions. We understand the stress you’re under and will do all we can to help you navigate the claims system so that you can receive the compensation you deserve. Contact our car accident lawyers in Pennsylvania to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.