Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey
My sister was driving my father's girlfriends car, which is insured under my father's girlfriend. My sister let her 17 year old boyfriend drive the car, he has a learner's permit, and I would assume no insurance. He crashed the car into a curb, there was no other car involved and no one was hurt. He did a lot of damage, roughly three thousand dollars. Now my fathers girlfriend does not want to go through insurance because her rates will go up, and thinks my sisters boyfriend should pay out of pocket for the damages. Now my sisters boyfriend does not have the money. So my question is who is responsible here? Can my fathers girlfriend not want to go through the insurance and try and force him to pay? And if he does not come up with the money what can we do? Can we sue him? thank you for the time
1 Answer from Attorneys
Allowing an unlicensed drivier to operate a car can cause insurance to not apply, unless there was a licensed driver in the car with the 17 year old who had a permit. A permit requires that
the holder thereof have a licensed driver in the car.