Unlicensed Driver Accident

One of every five fatal crashes involve a driver who is driving with an invalid license or no license according to an AAA Foundation survey. A person with a revoked or suspended license is 3.7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car, truck or vehicle accident. That figure jumps to almost 5% if the person has never previously had a driver’s license. Usually an unlicensed driver has no insurance covering himself. However, if he is driving a vehicle owned by another person or entity, then that other person or entity may be liable. Generally, a vehicle owner is not liable for the negligence of another person who is operating the owner’s vehicle. There are exceptions, including:

• Where the driver is on a mission for the owner
• Where the driver is an agent or employee of the owner
• Where the owner is negligent in allowing an unsafe or incompetent driver to drive his vehicle

Generally, if a motorist violates a safety law, that violation, in and of itself, does not create civil liability on the part of the violator. In order to recover damages, it must be shown that the violation was encompassed within the scope of the risks that the law was designed to protect against. The violation also must be the cause of the accident. So, for example, if a driver who is unlicensed is in an accident, the fact that he is unlicensed, alone, would not give rise to liability. He must have committed an act which caused the accident. Sometimes the law recognizes that violation of a safety law may provide a presumption of negligence and, in those cases, the violating driver must then prove that the violation of the law was not the cause of the accident.

This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every situation depends on its own facts, and reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.