Legal Question in Traffic Law in Illinois

boy rides bike hits a car

About 3 months ago my son, age 9, was at a birthday party at his friends house in another town. The other child's grandmother came to the party driving her ''new'' car, which was uninsured and not registered. The boys decided to ride bikes for a while, my son was given a bike that did not have brakes. He hit the ''new'' car after she parked. My question is are we as his parents responsible for the damage to an uninsured, unregistered car when my son was riding a bike at another persons home in another city on a bike that was not his and had no brakes? It has been 3 months and the woman has contacted my wife numerous times to get us to pay for this, now she is threatening to take us to court over the damage. There is a small scratch on the car, my son suffered a scrape on the leg. I have refused to pay for the damage as of this date and I don't see why I should have to. She shouldn't of been driving the vehicle around town with no insurance, the first thing I told my wife was I would pay the deductible, which is when she told me that she had no insurance. There has been no police report filed as of yet and with it being 3 months ago I don't see one being filed. There was roughly 500 dollars in damage done. Any advice would be helpful.


Asked on 11/29/08, 12:52 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Stephanie Galetti Knapp Ohl & Green

Re: boy rides bike hits a car

I would concur with the previous post. Yes, you can be held liable for the damage to the uninsured vehicle - it's a totally separate situation.

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Answered on 12/01/08, 10:12 am
Motty Stone Law Offices of Motty Stone

Re: boy rides bike hits a car

A few things...

(1) The lack of insurance or registration has nothing to do with whether your son was negligent in riding his bike.

(2) The neighbor's failure to supervise a 9 year old at her home may make her "comparatively negligent" meaning this is partly her fault.

(3) Anything you say to the neighbor can be used against you in Court, since you would be a party to a lawsuit.

They can sue you, but it is not clear whether they would win. If they sue for $500, it is not worth hiring an attorney (unless you want to win for other reasons). Feel free to give us a call if you have questions.

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Answered on 11/30/08, 4:10 pm


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