Most Texans are surprised to learn that Texas law creates the possibility for parents to be held legally liable for their offspring’s conduct. However, the caveat is that liability for a teen’s conduct is limited to that on the road. In some situations, Texas parents can be sued for a child’s car accident.
This is your inside look at parental liability for kids’ car accidents in Texas.
Parental Liability for Teen Drivers: Family Car Doctrine
The logic in extending legal liability to the parents of young drivers is rooted in the spirit of the family car doctrine. Though Texas does not honor the family car doctrine, its laws are written with similar language and underlying purpose.
Texas lawmakers insist parents should have some legal liability for their offspring’s actions when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. The reasoning for such laws is to encourage parents to teach their kids how to drive safely. Moreover, parents are more inclined to keep their children’s vehicles well-maintained and quickly repair them when they are subjected to legal liability after an accident.
Though the state has not yet officially adopted the family car doctrine, there is the potential for a victim of driving negligence to sue that driver’s parent. As detailed below, the potential for such a lawsuit is limited to specific circumstances.
The Prospect of a Potential Lawsuit After Your Teen’s Crash
The nightmare scenario of being sued for your child’s negligence while driving a motor vehicle has the potential to become your reality. Negligence is a term used by attorneys to refer to the failure to provide due care to others.
The legal grounds of parental negligence in Texas create the potential for injured parties to file personal injury claims against the parents of young drivers. The shocking truth is Texas law allows for victims of negligent acts to name the parents of the negligent parties as defendants.
As an example, consider a situation in which a parent is aware that his child has been throwing rocks at neighbors’ windows and does not do anything to prevent it from occurring. The property owner with a broken window is legally empowered to sue the parent of the child. The legal grounds for such a lawsuit are the failure to prevent a harm or loss to another person that is foreseeable.
The same logic can be applied to car accidents in involving young drivers. A personal injury attorney in Texas can sue the parents of a minor for breaching their duty of care, equating to negligence. However, the burden of proof is on the car accident victim.
The victim must prove the parents were aware of the offspring’s propensity to cause harm prior to its occurrence. It must also be proven that the parent failed to do what was necessary to prevent property damage and injury.
Here’s the bottom line: parents have a legal duty of care to others when allowing their offspring to drive. If it is successfully argued that parents violated that duty of care by failing to prevent the child from causing a harm that is foreseeable, potential legal liability arises.
The Four Elements of Negligent Entrustment
Negligent entrustment is a legal theory often used in Texas courts. The theory allows for the victim of a car accident to hold parents responsible for their child’s car accident. The legal theory is used to support the claim that the owner of the vehicle permitted his or her offspring to use it even though when aware of driving incompetence, recklessness or other flaws.
Furthermore, an awareness of a child’s lack of a Texas driver’s license yet still permitting him or her to drive is enough to sue under negligent entrustment.
Four specific elements are required to establish parent legal liability using negligent entrustment:
- The car accident caused injury or incurred damages
- A teenage driver’s negligence caused the crash
- The parent of the driver owned the automobile and entrusted it to the teenager
- The parent was aware or should have been aware that the teen was a reckless driver or displayed incompetence in the past
These four elements amount to an awareness that the parents could have reasonably foreseen the accident when letting the teenager drive the vehicle.
Texas’ Parental Liability Law
Read through the Texas Family Code and you’ll find the language reveals parents have the potential to be liable for their child’s negligent conduct. If a plaintiff can prove the child’s actions were attributed to the negligence of the parent, the lawsuit might lead to a lucrative court award or settlement.
Texas Family Code states it is a parent’s legal duty to control their offspring. If the parent fails to exercise proper control over offspring behavior, he or she can be held liable in a court of law. Moreover, if it is proven that the child committed a malicious or willful act that led to property damage and that child is between 10 and 18, the parent can be found liable for damages amounting to $25,000.
As an example, consider a hypothetical situation in which a parent asks his 18-year-old daughter to drive the family car to the convenience mart with the awareness that she has received several tickets for reckless driving. If she causes an accident while driving at the behest of her parent, that parent can be held legally liable for damages.
The Texas Family Code Chapter You Should Know About
Every Texas parent should be aware of Texas Family Code Chapter 41. This chapter of Texas law details parent responsibility in section 41.001. Though parental responsibility law in Texas is limited to property damage as opposed to personal injury, it creates the potential for a significant loss.
As long as the parent has a duty of control over his or her minor offspring, there is the potential for property damage liability. The language of the law extends to legal guardians in addition to birth parents. However, the challenge is proving the child’s act that caused the damage was malicious or willful as opposed to a random accident.
Car Accident in Texas? Contact our Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you or a loved one are involved in a car accident in Texas, don’t suffer in silence. It is possible that one or several parties, including parents, are legally liable for the accident. Our Texas car accident attorneys will analyze your unique car accident to identify all negligent parties.
Justice is a phone call away. Contact our office today at (972) 565-6160 for a case review.