Answers to Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, and Car Accident Questions
Q: If I knowingly get into a car driven by a drunk driver, can I still receive compensation under California law for my personal injuries when he causes an auto accident?
A: Yes, but the amount you can recover to pay for your injuries will be reduced by your own comparative negligence when you decided to get into a car driven by a drunk driver.
Unlike some states, California is a comparative negligence state which means that an injured person can still receive compensation for injuries that they bear some responsibility for causing. In other states, the law is known as contributory negligence which bars recovery if the injured person bears any responsibility for causing his injuries. In comparative negligence states, like California, the amount of compensation that can be recovered is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the injured person.
This can be demonstrated by the recent highly publicized case of Nick Bollea, Hulk Hogan's son. Nick was the driver of a car that crashed at a very high rate of speed while Nick was drinking and driving. His passenger in the vehicle was his friend and a member of Nick's racing pit crew. He had also been drinking. His passenger decided to get into the car even though he knew that Nick had been drinking earlier and was intoxicated. Unfortunately, the two people were involved in a serious car accident and Nick's passenger ended up in a permanent vegetative state.
Florida--where the accident happened--is like California in that they are both comparable negligence states. Therefore, Nick's passenger was able to receive compensation for his injuries and future medical care even though he probably shouldn't have ridden in the car with Nick.
Everyone should be cautious and be wary when you decide to ride as a passenger in a vehicle driven by someone who has been drinking. However, you should also know that if you are injured by the negligence of the driver of your car, you may be able to receive compensation for your injuries even though he may have been intoxicated at the time of the car crash.
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