Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

He is responsible when he causes an accident and he is driving. Anyone that owns the car is also vicariously responsible. If your mother's name is on the car's title, she could be vicariously liable.

If he is willfuly driving, and hurts someone in his condition, knowing he is incapacitated, he could face criminal charges.

You need to take action to protect the innocent. If you are not willing to take away his car and license yourself, then contact the DMV to report him, and request they take his license; they can do so without disclosing it was you. If he has a treating doctor, the doctor can and should do this as well. Your fathers feelings are not the most important issue anymore.

Is your father under the treatment of a physician? If he is, schedule him for an appointment with his doctor and go with him. Explain to the physician what is happening. There may be some medication which can help your father's cognizant abilities and If there isn't the physician is under a duty to report your father to DMV. As a result his license will properly be revoke. However, sometimes that does not prevent people from driving.

I am not sure from your question if your father has the capacity to understand that he is making bad decisions. Although you stated he runs away from accidents and that suggests he knows and understands the consequences of his actions. In California, the running from an accident can be charged as felony in criminal matters. In a civil matter it would tend to indicate fault on the part of your father. If your father understands what he is doing and has the capacity to understand the consequences of his actions, and it is determined he is at fault for the accident then your father will be responsible for the damages and/or any injuries he causes. Now his responsibility would be in two separate arenas. In any Civil actions as result of an accident he would be liable for the damages as would the owner or owners of the car. So if your mother is on title she would also be liable through vicarious liability. In a criminal court there could be some real horrible results depending on the county, how sever of an accident, the resulting injuries, and the individual DA pursuing the case. At the very least, your parents could find themselves in a criminal court action and find it necessary to hire an attorney to defend them. This is expensive, and not a pleasant process. Not to mention the mental feelings that people go through when something like that occurs.

In this situation since you are aware of the circumstances, you may want to report your father to DMV, yourself. DMV will not release your name and will evaluate your father. This process will eventually lead him to seeing his physician if he wants to retain his driving privileges.

This is difficult process and an extremely hard decision for a lot of people to make. So you should understand that you are not alone in this decision. It is something a lot of people go through. It is horrible to see our parents lose their independence as they grow older, especially when dementia is part of the problem and they still have the physical ability to perform the task. However, your parents are putting themselves and a lot of others in harms way, including young children that are either playing close to a road, maybe chasing a ball into the street or riding in a car with their parents. The risk of your father continuing to drive far outweighs the benefits. I think once you consider the possible consequences you'll find you have no choice but to report your father to DMV.

This answer is based on the general principles of law and should not be considered legal advice. It also has not created an attorney client relationship between the parties and there is no attorney client privilege between the parties.

Good luck,

Brian McGinity