Legal Question in Personal Injury in Louisiana
I Left my car running while I went into the store for a min. because I had several teen passengers, (I was bringing them to youth group.) however they took the car joyriding and wrecked it, now I'm being held accountable for their actions because I was told since the keys were in the ignition its "implied consent?"The girl who actually did the driving is 17 and unlicensed, she crashed into two parked cars and totaled my car. The passengers that were in the car with her threatened to sue me because of injuries they sustained, "whiplash." They don't have their drivers licenses, so how can they reasonably claim I would allow them to take and total my car? and how can they sue me for injuries when I was not in the car at the time and the girl who took my car did not have permission?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can be held accountable as the owner of a car which is wrecked by someone to whom you gave the car. Your defense is that they stole the car without your consent, but it is a sticky situation, since you left your keys in the car. Still, the decision to steal the car was theirs, not yours.
The case is easy when it comes to the cars they hit. You are almost certainly liable to those innocent people. When it comes to the kids who stole your car, their illegal actions and "assumption of the risk" of knowingly driving with an unlicensed driver could likely bar all of them from any recovery against you.
You can also file third party demands against the parents of the kids who stole your car to (1) indemnify (reimburse) you for any amounts you may have to pay to anyone and (2) recover your own property losses.
It is a sticky case, but in the end, I suspect the parents of the kid who stole the car will end up paying the lion's share of the bills.
Either way, the thing to do is to turn it all over to your insurance company for now. They will hire an attorney to represent you and the insurance company. You may need to find your own personal attorney to get your own property damage paid, unless your insurer paid it all.
By the way, I think you need to find a new church. That youth group isn't exactly instilling civic and moral values in those kids. I also can't believe their parents have the audacity to file claims on behalf of their criminal kids. Any parent worth their salt would have their kid working day and night to pay off your losses, not threatening to sue you over their kids' criminal acts. That is a truly sad situation.
Let your insurance company defend you. Whoever drove the car without your permission is in the worst position. The rest of them will probably be able to collect from your insurance, because they will settle. You should NOT worry about being responsible for anything, IF you told us the truth.
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