What happens when a family member causes an accident?

We all have them in our families-bad drivers. Car accidents happen and sometimes our loved ones are to blame. Hopefully, everyone is ok and the only worry is getting the car fixed but car accident injuries are not uncommon. Maybe your wife jams her shoulder or you son’s head bangs against the headrest. The reality of the situation is that the injured passengers have a claim against the negligent driver regardless of whether that person is a family member. The injuries still need to be treated and medical bills will need to be paid. Making injury claims will not increase insurance premiums because an at fault accident claim already exists. In fact, you pay your monthly insurance premium to cover injuries to strangers AND your own passengers. More often than not those passengers are loved ones. Many Maryland insurance policies have personal injury protection coverage which will usually pay $2,500.00 of medical bills and/or lost wages. In addition to the personal injury protection coverage, passengers are entitled to be reimbursed through the liability coverage of the vehicle in which they were passengers. The vehicle driven by mom, dad, grandma, or pop pop. Maybe your husband should have listened to you when you told him to stop texting and driving for the 100th time. The fact of the matter is that auto insurance is a monthly expense, use the benefits. When there is an accident people need to know all of the coverage benefits that are available. The family member whose bad driving injured you has insurance (you might even be the one who pays the premium), so use it!

I recently had a case where a father was driving his son to an appointment in Baltimore. The father made a negligent left turn and the car was t-boned. It was the father’s fault, no question. The car accident caused the son and father’s heads to bang together causing a fractured nose for the son. USAA was the insurance carrier. Personal injury protection covered the majority of the medical bills. In addition, the liability coverage through USAA reimbursed the son for all of the medical bills and any pain and suffering. You pay for insurance so use it when needed. Don’t leave money on the table because insurance companies aren’t going to do you any favors. Make sure if you are injured in an accident you contact an experienced Maryland car accident attorney who can explain all of your options.