Auto/Pedestrain Accident As a passenger in a friend's car, can my husband be sued?

[madspender]

Hi From West Virginia!

My husband was riding in the backseat of a friend's car about 11 months ago. A woman walked out in the road and his friend could not avoid hitting her. She survived but is in bad shape, from what I hear. We have been getting calls from her attorney saying that my husband is liable for the accident also, and that we should submit a claim to our insurance carrier or he is going to sue my husband if he does not hear from my husband's attorney or insurance carrier within a week. We have not contaced an attorney or insurance company, yet.

My husband was only a passenger and the car was not his. Is he really liable for this accident? What should we do? We only have liability insurance and are not rich people by no means.

Thanks for your help.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Hi From West Virginia!

My husband was riding in the backseat of a friend's car about 11 months ago. A woman walked out in the road and his friend could not avoid hitting her. She survived but is in bad shape, from what I hear. We have been getting calls from her attorney saying that my husband is liable for the accident also, and that we should submit a claim to our insurance carrier or he is going to sue my husband if he does not hear from my husband's attorney or insurance carrier within a week. We have not contaced an attorney or insurance company, yet.

My husband was only a passenger and the car was not his. Is he really liable for this accident? What should we do? We only have liability insurance and are not rich people by no means.

Thanks for your help.

My response:

Assuming that what you are saying is accurate; i.e., husband in back seat, and car not his, then yes, I would also like to hear or read the attorney's theory of liability.

In such a factual situation, I am hardpressed to think of any issues of liability that would attach to your husband.

When you spoke to the attorney, did he happen to mention anything to you that would tag your husband with liability ? Call the attorney back, if you can, and ask him for his "theory of liability" against you husband.

Please let us know what he says.

IAAL

 

[madspender]

Hi!

Thank you for responding so quickly. Yes, what I said is accurate. My husband was merely a passenger and the car was not his.

On a previous call to the attorney, he told me that it is difficult for a layperson to understand but my husband may have insurance coverage to help the accident victim. We didn't submit the claim as he requested, so he is now sending letters threatening a lawsuit w/i a week.

I will call him, as you suggested, and ask him for his "theory of liability". I will be sure to let you know what he says. Thanks for your help.

 

[madspender]

Update

UPDATE:

Hi, from WV again.

I called the attorney back in Feb. as I said I would, but our call was never returned, so I thought that maybe this was over. Well, my husband just received the summons. He is being sued for a million dollars!, along with the driver and another passenger (the driver's wife).

The summons states that, as a direct and proximate result of the negligence, individually, and created as a direct result of the joint venture of the defendants, the plantiff was severely injured....

My husband and I obtained a crash report from the police department recently, and it said that the driver blew a .073 (legal limit was .10, I think)and had the failure to maintain control box checked. I know that the driver was not arrested (and I don't think he was issued any tickets, although I'm not positive). The police narrative said that the pedestrian walked into the path of the vehicle and that he tried to stop but he was unable to, etc. I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but as the pedestrian was crossing the street to the bar, she did not use a pedestrian crossing. Her friends stopped on the dividing line, but said in the police report that she (the injured) kept walking.

My husband was merely catching a ride home from his band practice, because I had not made it in time to pick him up (we only had one car). Please let this be a lesson to everyone, to be careful who they catch a ride with.

I guess my question is about obtaining legal help. I contacted legal aid, but was told they do not handle these cases. We don't have a lot of money, but need to provide an answer to the plaintiff's attorney within the next week. Do you have any ideas about how we can obtain help with this? Can this be done by a paralegal or will an attorney do one without taking the case, etc? All ideas are appreciated. We would really hate to go into this thing unrepresented. Thanks so much for your time and help.


[Edited by madspender on 06-14-2001 at 12:24 AM]