Parental Responsibility when a Child Causes a Personal Injury

Imagine you are driving along one day and you are involved in an auto accident. Another car ran a stop sign and came barreling through the intersection and broadsided your car. When you step out of your car to assess the damage, you notice that the driver of the other car looks really young — too young to be driving a car. The boy looks quite shaken and confused and the first thing they say when you ask him if he is OK is, “My dad is going to be so angry when he finds out about this!”

It turns out that you were broadsided by a 12-year-old who had taken his dad’s new car out for a quick joy ride around the block. As a result, you have been seriously injured and your car is destroyed.

What happens next?

When you are injured in a car accident, you can bring a personal injury lawsuit against the driver for their negligence in causing the accident. You can legally bring a negligence lawsuit against a child, and in some situations the parents can be held responsible when someone is injured. In some cases, if the child’s family has homeowners insurance, the child’s negligent actions may be covered if the policy includes both liability and property coverage.

Parents may also be held liable for property damage and other losses their child might have caused until they have reached the age of majority; in West Virginia and in Washington, D.C., that means 18 years old. In some circumstances the parent may be required to pay damages to the injured party to compensate them for the losses their child has caused.

Laws affecting parental responsibility

Most states have enacted parental responsibility laws that hold parents accountable for the negligent acts of their children. Washington, D.C., however, has not. West Virginia’s law, W. Va. Code § 55-7A-2: Willful Misconduct, limits parental liability to $5,000 for actual damages, court costs and interest from the date of judgement for minors under the age of 18. This liability is imposed on parents for the willful misconduct of their children.

Until stricter laws are instituted in D.C. and West Virginia, people injured by the negligent actions of children may be forced to sue those children in court to obtain compensation for their injuries and property damage.