A lack of personal experience is one of the major contributing factors to motor vehicle collisions in Minnesota. Teenage drivers often get into collisions because they don’t have enough hands-on experience to properly respond to other drivers or sudden changes in road conditions. They are also particularly susceptible to distractions caused by mobile devices and passengers.
Teen drivers not only frequently get hurt and die in crashes, but they also cause major collisions that affect other people. You could very easily wind up hurt in a crash caused not just by a teenage driver but by a student driver who doesn’t have a license or their own car insurance yet. Will the parents of the teen driver compensate you when their student driver causes a crash?
Who was in the vehicle with the student driver?
When looking at who is financially responsible for a Minnesota car crash caused by a student driver, you need to look at the circumstances. If the teenager was getting in practice hours with their parents, then the parent’s insurance policy will likely apply to the crash. The parent may also have civil liability for expenses that exceed what insurance will cover.
However, if the student was in a vehicle as part of a certified driver’s education course, then it may be the instructor or the driving school that will provide the insurance coverage for anyone hurt in a car crash that the student driver causes.
Are there scenarios where the teenager is ultimately responsible?
There is one situation in which the teen driver rather than their driver’s education school or parents will be responsible for the costs caused by a collision.
If a young driver sneaks out without parental consent and gets behind the wheel without anyone else’s knowledge, they may ultimately be to blame for their own mistakes, rather than their parent’s insurance. Still, parents could be liable in such scenarios if there is a history of substance abuse, criminal activity or mental health issues in the young driver that they should have addressed or accounted for in their parenting practices.
Identifying who is actually liable for car crash costs will help those affected by a collision caused by a student driver in Minnesota.
