Injured as a Passenger in a Car Accident? Here’s What You Need to Know
You handed someone else the keys or got into a car you didn’t control. Then another driver ran a light on U.S. 49, traffic collided on I-10 outside Gulfport, or the person beside you made the mistake that caused the wreck. If you were injured as a passenger in a car accident, that lack of control can make one part of the legal picture simpler: Passengers don’t usually have to defend their own driving decisions. Instead, the claim centers on which driver or other party caused the collision and which insurance coverage applies.
Mississippi law allows an injured passenger to pursue compensation from the person or parties whose negligence caused the crash. Depending on what happened, that could mean bringing a car accident passenger claim against the driver of another vehicle, the person driving the car you occupied, or more than one responsible party. At Smith & Holder, PLLC, we can help you sort through that uncomfortable tangle of fault, insurance policies, and personal relationships. From our Gulfport office, we can investigate the collision, identify every available source of coverage, document your losses, and pursue the responsible insurers. While we do that, you can concentrate on getting your life back on familiar ground.
Who Can a Passenger Injured in a Car Accident Hold Liable?
If two motorists collide at an intersection in Gulfport or sideswipe each other on I-10 near Biloxi, Mississippi law allows fault to follow each person’s contribution to the wreck.
Depending on the circumstances, a car accident passenger claim may involve:
- The other driver. A motorist who speeds through a Gulfport intersection, follows too closely on U.S. 49, or makes an unsafe lane change along I-10 may bear responsibility for the resulting injuries.
- Your driver. A friend, relative, coworker, or rideshare driver may face liability after causing a Biloxi crash through distraction, speeding, impairment, or another negligent choice.
- Multiple motorists. Two drivers may share fault for a collision, such as when one runs a stop sign in Harrison County while another travels too fast to react safely.
- Another responsible party. Some Mississippi crashes involve an employer whose employee caused a wreck while performing job duties, or a business responsible for a dangerous vehicle or a defective component.
Mississippi’s comparative fault law also reduces a claimant’s damages according to that person’s own percentage of fault. For a passenger injured in a car accident who simply occupied a vehicle and did nothing to contribute to the collision or resulting harm, there may be no passenger fault to subtract, which means you can focus on how the responsible drivers and other parties contributed to the wreck and on pursuing available insurance coverage.
How Does Comparative Fault Affect a Car Accident Passenger Claim?
Mississippi uses a pure comparative negligence system, which can allocate responsibility to more than one person when several actions contribute to the same collision. For a passenger, that can affect both whom they pursue for compensation and how much they ultimately recover.
For example:
- Two drivers share fault. If one driver bears 70% of the responsibility for a Gulfport collision and the motorist carrying the passenger bears 30%, the injured passenger may pursue compensation based on each driver’s share. If the passenger contributed nothing to the crash or resulting harm, those percentages would not reduce the passenger’s recovery.
- The passenger shares fault. If someone suffers $100,000 in damages after a Biloxi collision but a jury assigns that passenger 20% of the responsibility for worsening the injuries, by, say, causing the driver to become distracted, Mississippi law would reduce the available recovery by 20%, leaving $80,000 in recoverable damages.
For a passenger injury claim, separating the driver’s fault from any conduct attributed to the passenger can directly affect how much compensation remains available.
Passenger in Car Accident Compensation: What Does it Cover?
A passenger injury claim can seek compensation for financial and personal losses.
Depending on the circumstances, compensation may account for:
- Medical expenses—emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, medication, rehabilitation, and reasonably anticipated future treatment;
- Lost wages—income you miss when your injuries keep you away from work;
- Reduced earning capacity—future income you may lose if lasting limitations affect the type or amount of work you can perform;
- Pain and suffering—physical discomfort and the ways an injury interferes with your daily activities and quality of life;
- Emotional distress—psychological effects connected to the collision and resulting injuries; and
- Property damage—the cost of repairing or replacing personal belongings damaged in the wreck.
The value of passenger in car accident compensation depends on the evidence supporting each loss. Medical records, employment documents, treatment recommendations, and evidence of lasting limitations can help show what the crash has already cost you and what it may continue to take from you.
Injured as a Passenger in a Car Accident? Wondering What a Passenger Injury Claim Covers? Contact an Attorney for Car Accident Claims at Smith & Holder, PLLC Today
Being a passenger can put you in an unusual position after a wreck. You may need to make a claim against a friend or relative’s insurance policy, deal with two drivers blaming each other, or sort through several sources of coverage. Smith & Holder, PLLC, can take that fight out of your hands without taking you out of the process.
From its Gulfport office, Smith & Holder gives clients direct access to the attorney handling their case and provides honest assessments of their rights and options as the evidence develops. The firm brings meticulous preparation and extensive litigation experience to personal injury cases throughout Gulfport, Biloxi, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
If you were injured as a passenger in a car accident, contact Smith & Holder for a free case evaluation. An attorney for car accident claims can investigate who caused the collision, pursue all available sources of compensation, and build a claim that reflects what the wreck has cost you. You pay no attorney fees unless the firm wins your case.
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