Negligent Passenger Behavior
Most of roads’ circumstances, the driver of a certain vehicle is responsible for the safety and avoidance to accidents of its passenger as well as the vehicle itself as he holds the steering wheel and has the full control over the vehicle, so when a vehicle being driven was involved in an accident, usually the driver of the accident is the one to blame most of the time.
But on some notes and reports, it is surprising fact that the public doesn’t really acknowledged that there are passenger-caused traffic accidents as 3.55% of total crashes, regardless of the age of passenger, are caused by a circumstance where there is an interaction between a passenger and driver and 3.85% when all grown-up male were involved. These numbers came from said behaviors that tend to distract or prevent the driver from proper driving, posing risks for every occupants in the car for losing control over the vehicle or may end up in distracted driving practice.
Most of the time, passengers were not been held liable for the damage that the accident dealt that they caused as they haven’t been presented proper claim or the driver doesn’t have something to present to the court as a strong proof but does a passenger’s intentional misconduct to the driver and has led to bad driving for the driver and has caused a collision, could he/she be liable?
Example of Negligent Passenger Behavior
For reckless passenger behavior to be considered willful misconduct, it would likely have to be extreme. Passengers may be considered liable for willfully dangerous actions, such as:
- Using instruments or hands to cover driver’s vision for no reason
- Stealing the steering wheel or other car’s control system that forced the driver to lose control or move the car indefinitely
- Unexceptional behaviors such as shouting, opening the car door, and throwing things outside car window
- Giving the driver unnecessary remarks, scaring, or suggestive thoughts that make him startled or lose his attention over driving
- Assault and violence done to the driver or other passengers
- Encouraging the driver to drive while under influence of drugs or alcohol
This is accounted as passenger negligence that usually end in bad crash or sustenance of fatalities. It is best to restrain the outgoing behavior of a said passenger to avoid this kind of occurrence and expenditure of life or even be selective who you ride with on travels.
Duty of Care
Drivers ought to drive safely as they hold occupants’ safety as well as his safety on his/her wheels by following traffic regulations, checking car beforehand and after traveling, proper usage of headlights and car indicators appropriately.
As a passenger, you are an essential person to make the driver’s mind clear and free from distraction for him to make good verdicts and decisions when needed in road.
Ryan Injury Lawyers
If ever one of your family members or closests friend has been involved in an accident who have sustained either minor or significant injuries and even a possible death because of the driver or passenger that has shown apparent negligence and recklessness, you can always refer help from a professional experienced injury lawyer to smoothen things out as your hired lawyers can help you decide from their factual and legal advices.
Ryan Injury Lawyers is an Ohio based injury lawyer that represents victims of personal injury caused by car accidents, medical malpractice due to medical professional’s negligence, and even wrongful death against large companies, agencies and even individuals. We have 40 years of experience doing our service in this field and evidently successful with our civil litigations. Call our office now for free legal consultation.