Car Accident Attorney for a Teen Driver: Things Parents Need to Know
You receive a call in the middle of the night about a car accident involving your teenager. You sit down at the kitchen table with your insurance information, a cold cup of coffee, and a teenage cellphone with a cracked screen. Within hours, you could receive calls from law enforcement, your insurance company, and the other driver’s insurance company. All of these calls have implications for your family, particularly if fault is not clear, someone has been hurt, or it is unclear whether your child had permission to use the car.
Police Call
Your first call will likely be from the police. You might be speaking with an officer who is on the side of the road as the hazard lights are flashing, there is plastic everywhere, and the car is backed up against the curb. Ask where the teen is, if there is any medical attention needed, and where the car is going. Don’t try to establish fault in the first call.
An anxious teenager might speculate about how fast he or she was going or the length of the intersection or what the color of the traffic light was. He or she might be in the back of an ambulance with a foil blanket over their legs. Make sure your teen identifies him or herself to law enforcement but doesn’t speculate about anything. Also, make sure that he or she doesn’t delete texts off his or her phone, doesn’t fix a cracked phone, and doesn’t throw out a receipt that would give you the time the crash occurred.
If your teen appears to be injured, seek medical attention, even if the teen complains of a sore neck or shoulder. The symptoms may manifest later (you can see this for yourself at cdc.gov/traumatic-brain-injury) once the towing truck pulls away and you are home. Keep all discharge paperwork, medication, scheduling slips, and photos of any external injuries.
Your Insurance Company Call
Your insurance company will likely call you. While you’re holding on to the crumpled key attached to the policy card, ask who is calling, what policy is applicable, and if the conversation is being recorded. An attorney for a car accident can help you review the policy and assist your family in accurately answering their questions instead of guessing and filling in the blanks.
There might be coverage issues if your teen caused the crash. If the rules in your state allow it, you could be liable for a claim arising from your ownership of the vehicle, granting permission to use it, supervising your teen, or being responsible for your child. All of the documents in your filing cabinet (declarations page, household driver list, renewal documents) might be important to determine coverage.
One contentious issue is permission. Perhaps your child was told not to drive the car, but he or she borrowed the spare key in the bowl in the hallway. Or maybe he or she drove the car to a location outside the scope of the permission granted. An insurance company might want to look at the policy exclusions, the child’s regular access to the car, and past driving history. An insurance company isn’t going to just listen to what you say when you are angry at your child after they wreck your car in the garage.
Other Insurance Company Call
The other driver’s insurance company is likely to call you. The adjuster might seem friendly and say, “Oh, we just need a few details.” The adjuster could ask about your child’s speed, if he or she was using a cell phone (find out), how many passengers were in the car, what other vehicles your household owns, and what you said to your child when you saw the crumpled front end of the car. Generally, parents shouldn’t give a recorded statement or sign a medical release until they speak with an attorney and understand what the insurance company is seeking.
Before returning the call from the other driver’s insurance company, gather the following:
- Take photos of the cars, any debris, child safety seats, and skid marks before the rain comes or the street sweeper arrives.
- Gather all dash-cam footage, quotes from auto shops, tow receipts, and the mangled exchange sheet from the glove box.
- Take screenshots of pertinent text messages but don’t add commentary and don’t forward them to a group text that includes everyone.
This might also include social media postings. A picture of your child smiling at a football game, posted a day after telling the nurse he or she couldn’t move his or her neck, can be taken out of context. Statements like “I didn’t see the car” can be interpreted as an admission of fault, even though the message was sent while your child was sitting under the harsh lighting in the emergency room and shaking.
Prepare for the Next Call
Have your policy, police documentation, medical records, photographs, and call records organized in one folder, not all over the kitchen table. Early legal counsel can help your family determine your potential liability, contested permission, coverage exclusions, and what to communicate with the adjuster while you can still hear the sound of the tow yard gate and you can remember all of the details.