What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Washington
A friend of 20 years was in town to attend a wedding reception and wanted to park their camper in our drive way. They offered to take me and my kids 4 wheeling on their ATV. I specifically asked how safe it was and that I have never done something like this before. They never disclosed that their ATV did not have insurance nor did they say that they are not required to have insurance (I found out afterwards that they are not required to have insurance).
During the outing, my son, 16 went for a ride and hit a bump that caused him to roll the ATV - nobody saw what happened as this is a 1600 acre public land and no one else was there. When I came upon the spot on another ATV, his ATV was parked to the side of the road and had a flat tire, likely due to hitting the bump. I waited for the friend to show up and we STARTED and towed the ATV with the flat tire to his truck. After this, the friend said we can stay and ride the other ATV which we did for another hour or so.
Next day, Sunday, the friend left and drove home 200 miles away. On Tuesday, he called me saying he had taken the ATV in to the dealer to assess the damage and it was $4200. He wants me to "fix the ATV to the condition it was in."
Please note that this ATV is 7 years old, the owner rides it all the time, there was no visible damage after incident, we were able to start and tow it. He did not tell me when he was going to the dealer and what damages were caused by me. What I need help on is - how do I know what damage was caused by me and what the condition of the ATV was prior to my riding it? I will repeat, and he acknowledged, we do not know what happened. The average value of a similar ATV with 7 years of use is $5000. I am not trying to deny my responsibility but I do not know how can he determine how much damage was caused by me since he rides it and that there could have have been damages from his prior rides.
Washington
A friend of 20 years was in town to attend a wedding reception and wanted to park their camper in our drive way. They offered to take me and my kids 4 wheeling on their ATV. I specifically asked how safe it was and that I have never done something like this before. They never disclosed that their ATV did not have insurance nor did they say that they are not required to have insurance (I found out afterwards that they are not required to have insurance).
During the outing, my son, 16 went for a ride and hit a bump that caused him to roll the ATV - nobody saw what happened as this is a 1600 acre public land and no one else was there. When I came upon the spot on another ATV, his ATV was parked to the side of the road and had a flat tire, likely due to hitting the bump. I waited for the friend to show up and we STARTED and towed the ATV with the flat tire to his truck. After this, the friend said we can stay and ride the other ATV which we did for another hour or so.
Next day, Sunday, the friend left and drove home 200 miles away. On Tuesday, he called me saying he had taken the ATV in to the dealer to assess the damage and it was $4200. He wants me to "fix the ATV to the condition it was in."
Please note that this ATV is 7 years old, the owner rides it all the time, there was no visible damage after incident, we were able to start and tow it. He did not tell me when he was going to the dealer and what damages were caused by me. What I need help on is - how do I know what damage was caused by me and what the condition of the ATV was prior to my riding it? I will repeat, and he acknowledged, we do not know what happened. The average value of a similar ATV with 7 years of use is $5000. I am not trying to deny my responsibility but I do not know how can he determine how much damage was caused by me since he rides it and that there could have have been damages from his prior rides.
