underage driver liability

rednyr2 · #1 04-25-2006, 02:37 PM

In South Carolina my child was killed while a passenger in a vehicle. The driver of the car she was in swerved to miss a deer. There were three other cars in the oncoming traffic lane. The first vehicle in the oncoming lane saw her car swerving and drove to the side of the road to give room, the second car t-boned my childs side of the car killing her, the 3rd car also swerved to the side of the road as the 1st car had. The driver of the second oncoming car had a restricted license that did not enable himto drive past 6pm, the accident occured at 10pm. The driver of the oncoming car was never ticketed for driving after restricted license hours. My question is does he hold any liability in the death of my child since he is the only one of 3 cars that did not swerve to avoid colliding with the car my daughter was a passenger in. Thank you for your time.

Blue Meanie · #2 04-25-2006, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rednyr2

In South Carolina my child was killed while a passenger in a vehicle. The driver of the car she was in swerved to miss a deer. There were three other cars in the oncoming traffic lane. The first vehicle in the oncoming lane saw her car swerving and drove to the side of the road to give room, the second car t-boned my childs side of the car killing her, the 3rd car also swerved to the side of the road as the 1st car had. The driver of the second oncoming car had a restricted license that did not enable himto drive past 6pm, the accident occured at 10pm. The driver of the oncoming car was never ticketed for driving after restricted license hours. My question is does he hold any liability in the death of my child since he is the only one of 3 cars that did not swerve to avoid colliding with the car my daughter was a passenger in. Thank you for your time.

First let me say how very sorry I am for your loss.

I don't think he is responsible for the accident...the driver of the car your daughter was in swerved into his lane. I think this is just a very sad accident. Again I am sorry for your loss...

Bay

rednyr2 · #3 04-25-2006, 08:18 PM

Bay,

Thank you so much for your reply....it has been a very rough road to accepting the loss of my teenage daughter....

I guess what keeps pushing at my thoughts is that the boy should not have even have been on the road due to his licensing curfew - he was driving illegally, with the other cars pulling to the shoulder it just preys on my mind the what if he had been home, over 60 miles away, where he should have been ...since he had no legal right to be on the road - why did he not swerve as the other cars did, why did he try to leave the scene of the accident (with my daughter trapped under his car). Also the reports of him running into the woods after the accident of course stirs negative thoughts as to what was he hiding, coupled with the car behind him, who states the boy never braked...I can not for the life of me understand how he does not at least get a ticket for driving illegally that time of night....

I guess from my standpoint I feel he should not have been there and had he not been there most likely my daughter would still be alive today because obviously the other drivers were aware of 'something going on' and acted accordingly...

Thank you however, for your thoughts....

Blue Meanie · #4 04-26-2006, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rednyr2

Bay,

Thank you so much for your reply....it has been a very rough road to accepting the loss of my teenage daughter....

I guess what keeps pushing at my thoughts is that the boy should not have even have been on the road due to his licensing curfew - he was driving illegally, with the other cars pulling to the shoulder it just preys on my mind the what if he had been home, over 60 miles away, where he should have been ...since he had no legal right to be on the road - why did he not swerve as the other cars did, why did he try to leave the scene of the accident (with my daughter trapped under his car). Also the reports of him running into the woods after the accident of course stirs negative thoughts as to what was he hiding, coupled with the car behind him, who states the boy never braked...I can not for the life of me understand how he does not at least get a ticket for driving illegally that time of night....

I guess from my standpoint I feel he should not have been there and had he not been there most likely my daughter would still be alive today because obviously the other drivers were aware of 'something going on' and acted accordingly...

Thank you however, for your thoughts....

Your welcome...

I am not an attorney...so you may want to stick around and see if others have a different opinion on this...

Bay

teflon_jones · #5 04-26-2006, 10:46 AM

First of all, I'm very sorry for your loss.

The cause of the accident was the deer in the road, not the other drivers. It doesn't matter whether they were licensed or not. The driver of the car your daughter was traveling in could be held responsible for not maintaining control of the vehicle and swerving into oncoming traffic. The other driver can't be held liable for staying in his/her lane and not swerving off the road.