Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Senior dirver

Despite the fact this is your relative, you should contact the DMV to have him in for retesting. If it is not your vehicle and/or you are not in any manner, responsible by legal document/etc., for his actions, you will likely not be responsible for injury caused by him, however, you certainly do not want him to be responsible for his own harm or someone elses. Do all you can. If question, call to discuss.

Re: Senior dirver

Children and their spouses are generally not responsible for the actions of their parents or parents-in-law. Unless one or both of you have become his legal guardian, you would not be held liable for his actions.

You can, however, be held liable for your own actions. You can't prevent him from driving his own car, but you can refuse to lend him yours or to do anything else that might increase the odds of him causing an accident. If you do any of these things and he hurts someone, you can be held liable for negligent entrustment.

Your concern about liability is understandable, but it sounds like you should also be concerned about your father-in-law's well-being. If he really can't perform everyday functions anymore, you might want to seek an order naming you and your wife as his conservators. That way you actually would have the authority to prevent him from driving.

All of this presumes that you have a well-founded belief -- based on more than just his age -- that he can't drive safely. A single incident of his car lurching forward is probably not enough. There are many 89-year-olds who can drive just fine, and age alone is not sufficient reason to prevent someone from driving. My sense is that you have seen enough signs to justify your fears, but I want to make this point for the benefit of future readers whose situations might be less clear-cut.

Re: Senior dirver

Generally speaking, you are not responsible for the misfeasance or negligence of your parents. This assumes that you there are not any Court Orders which specifically make you responsible for the acts of another.

Under any circumstances, you should never allow an unlicensed or dangerous driver to drive any vehicle that you own. An owner of a vehicle may be liable for allowing/permitting another to drive his/her vehicle(s).

Re: Senior dirver

As others have said, you are not liable unless it is your car. However, you really should contact DMV and report the problem, and request they call him in for testing. It is unpleasant to blow the whistle on a family member, but if you don't, he may kill someone.