Legal Question in Traffic Law in Wisconsin

Suing Parents of Underaged Negligent Driver

Wisconsin law holds the parents of a minor strictly liable for up to several thousand dollars in willful damages which their child commits. Do enforce this, however, you will need to sue them, or convince them to pay voluntarily. Parents can also be sued on other theories such as negligently entrusting their car to a known unsafe driver, or failure to properly supervise their child. If your insurance company pays for your damages, they generally become the owner of the claim against the guilty driver, meaning that it would be improper for you to also sue them. When you settle with your insurance company, you are implicitly assigning your claim to them.