Hurt Passenger – You Have A Claim Against the Driver

According to the Oklahoman, a Stillwell women died this past weekend when a sport utility vehicle she was riding in crashed in Adair County on Friday night. The article notes that there were several passengers in the vehicle.

This tragic death and article got me thinking about a little know fact the insurance industry does not want you to know. That fact is that passengers in a vehicle can make a claim against the driver of a vehicle when the driver negligently causes them harm. For many years insurance propaganda has perpetuated the myth that it is bad to make a claim and that you have to be in a wreck where another car negligently hits you, whether you are a passenger or a driver. The insurance industry has most likely saved millions if not billions in claims by perpetuating this myth when reality is exactly the opposite.

In Oklahoma, if you are involved in an automobile, motorcycle or trucking accident in which you are passenger of a negligent driver, you have a claim against that driver. That driver owes you a duty to transport you safely and any breach of that duty means that driver was negligent. Here’s another secret, if your spouse causes the accident you have a claim against your spouse. In almost every circumstance, Oklahoma law allows a passenger to make a claim irregardless to relationship.

The attorneys here at McIntyre Law have successfully litigated and settled numerous cases that involved a negligent driver. So if you are a passenger and are hurt in an accident, do not give up your rights by failing to make a claim. You are only benefiting the insurance company’s profit margin.