No Traffic Ticket Does Not Mean that You are not Liable for a Car Accident
Transcript:
Hi, My name is Jared Richards, and I am one of the partners here at Clear Counsel Law Group.
One of our readers has asked if he can be held liable if he has a passenger that was injured in an accident, but he didn’t receive a citation. He didn’t get a traffic ticket.
The answer is yes. Traffic tickets don’t determine liability. You can technically be following the law and still get somebody hurt. Even so, the courts do not rely exclusively on the cops to determine who’s more at fault. The real question is … It’s not a question of traffic tickets, because cops sometimes don’t give them. Sometimes, quite frankly, cops get them all wrong.
The real question is; did the driver do something that was negligent? Did the driver breach his duty of care to drive carefully? If he did, then he’s going to be responsible for any injuries that he causes. Since the passengers in his car generally are fault free, unless they’re being stupid and grabbing the steering wheel, I suppose. Mostly, 99.99% of the time, the passenger is absolutely fault free. So, yes. Even without a traffic ticket, you can be responsible for your passenger’s injuries.
Thanks. If you have any questions, give us a call.