I pulled into a blind driveway and ran over the leg of someone laying in the drive. He had been told twice to move by other people, am I liable?

Question Details:

Prior to the incident I had contacted my insurance company to change the vehicle on my policy. Unknown to me, my vehicles were never switched and I was paying premiums for liability coverage on a vehicle that I didn't even own anymore. I ran over the guy's leg and he had minor injuries (nothing broken). Since I was driving a vehicle that was uninsured, the victim's insurance company covered the cost of medical attention plus pain and suffering. The victim's insurance company has filed a debt collection lawsuit against me.

Asked 9/29/2009 under Personal Injury | 313 View(s) | More Legal Topics

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Personal Injury Law Answers

I am a lawyer in CT and practice in this area of the law.  As the operator of the car, you bear the most responsibility.  If the person was told to move and he failed to do so and you then ran the guy over, the court will likely find that you are liable for the injuries as a car is a dangerous instrument and comes with a lot of responsibility.  I suggest that you figure out a way to pay off the medical bills.  usually, the collection agencies will work with you on a payment plan.

I think you need to talk to a lawyer in your area about this, as soon as possible.

First off, if you were still paying the premiums, it may be possible to force the insurance company to provide coverage here.  The insurer can argue that you should have seen that the vehicle wasn't changed in their paperwork and you should have let them know beforehand, but that might not work.  I'm not a Nebraska attorney, but in most states, the law is strongly in favor of the insurance consumer, and courts will sometimes go to remarkable lengths to find that insurance coverage was in force, rather than not.

As far as the accident victim, it's very, very hard to evaluate the case without a lot more factual detail;  I'd want to see some photographs of the scene, find out exactly where the person was, and why he was lying down in the driveway, and I'd want to know how fast your car was moving, eyewitnesses, etc.  I'm not sure why the lawsuit has been filed as a collection action, but I'd think that liability could be contested here, and I think that the person in the driveway was negligent here as well (if you were actually negligent at all).

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