Legal Question in Personal Injury in Connecticut

Re: accident in borrowed car

The owner of a motor vehicle is legally responsible for the actions of the driver who was driving with the owners permission. The owners insurance carrier must be notified of the accident. Good luck.

Re: accident in borrowed car

In a case where a vehicle is rear ended by another, the vehicle that was hit in the rear is usually free from any contributory negligence because its generally believed that the accident would not have occurred unless the driver approaching from behind became distracted or otherwise acted negligently. This does not apply when there is evidence that the car that was hit from behind was backing up at the time of the accident. While no-fault claims are usualy resolved by each insurer paying their respective clients, in the case of a rear end accident the vehicle hit from behind can sue the other vehicle for the value of its deductable since it is presumed not to have contributed to the accident. The parties to be sued usually include both the driver of the offending vehicle and the owner of the vehicle, unless they are one and the same. The owner is usually sued becasue the owner is the one who authorized the driver to use the vehicle. If that driver was negligent,the owner of the vehicle may have also been negligent for letting a person prone to such negligent acts drive his/her vehicle. Even if the vehicle hit from behind is paid by its insurance company,there is usually a subrogation claim made by the victim's insurance company inorder to recover their client's deductable. Either the owner of the vehicle hit from behind or their insurance company can seek to recover the deductable paid by the owner of the vehicle that was hit in the rear. Hope this answers your question.