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The DOT has announced that on-the-road tests are no longer required for teenagers to get their driver’s licenses. Although most teens will drive safely, some may not. I remember the night of the very day I passed my road test, I dropped my Mom off at the local A&P (boy, that shows my age), turned on the ignition and started to drive. I hadn’t driven two blocks, when an oncoming driver began blinking his brights at me. I’d forgotten to turn on my headlights.
This raises an important issue: parental liability for our children. Wisconsin law provides 3 areas where the actions of children can affect parents, as long as the child’s conduct occurs before his or her 18th birthday.
First, the parent who sponsors a child’s license is fully responsible for all personal injuries and property damage caused by the child. If, God forbid, your child hits a car by crossing the centerline, with passengers in each vehicle, your sponsoring signature means you are on the hook for all harm from that accident—from minor bruises to traumatic brain damage, from a crumpled bumper to a totaled Cadillac Escalade. You may wish to check your auto insurance and consider increasing it or an umbrella policy, the cost of which is usually not that great. If you get an umbrella, make sure to include uninsured and underinsured coverage to provide for your damages where a negligent driver has little to no coverage.
Secondly, parents are liable for intentional acts of their children. A child’s act meant to cause injury or property damage creates a claim against both parents for up to $5000 per act. The law is interpreted to indicate acts which differ as to time, place or circumstances, so a child purposely hitting someone 3 times creates one claim. But a child vandalizing 3 different buildings can create 3 claims. The parents are not each liable for the $5000, but jointly instead. Such juvenile conduct can also lead to criminal results in the juvenile or adult criminal courts, as in Wisconsin, 17 year-olds are charged as adults.
Finally, and in addition to the second basis above, a parent can be liable if he or she is negligent in supervising the child’s conduct. A lack of supervision or permissiveness where parental responsibility or control is lacking could create a significant claim against Mom and/or Dad. And home-owner’s insurance may provide no protection.
Please be aware of how your child’s conduct may not only tug at your heartstrings, but also rip open your purse strings. Please feel free to contact us at Hertel Law, if you need help on either side of these issues.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the legal system just like most everyone's life. In-court proceedings have been delayed or handled by phone or videoconferencing. Nonetheless, the Courts are still considered "essential" businesses, resulting in our continuing to provide help where needed. Our office hours are temporarily 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, including over the lunch hour, except Friday when we are available from 8:00 am to noon. Other times can be made available on evenings and weekends as may be necessary.
:Nonetheless, certain circumstances may well require prompt action. If you are injured through the negligence of a truck or auto driver, you likely will hear quickly from an insurance company. If it is the other driver's company, DO NOT speak with their representative; their interest is primarily to have you minimize your injuries or have you acknowledge some negligence on your part. If it is your own company, you have an obligation to cooperate, but it might be safest to have an attorney participate in the call to make sure the details are complete and accurate, and confirming that your injuries may not have resolved completely. If it is law enforcement wishing to speak with you, you must be careful; if you may have been accused of a crime by someone, they are not required to tell you, and anything you say can be used against you. It is far better to seek legal counsel, rather than regret it later when what you say may be misunderstood, taken out of context, or actually cause you to implicate yourself without knowing what you did was illegal. We don't charge for initial consultations, and acting positively to take time to best understand your rights is far better than saying something that may affect your future negatively. Please call, and we will be glad to help.
Attorney Harry Hertel aggressively protects the rights and long-term goals of clients facing drunk driving charges.
HERTELLAW.COM
Knowledgeable Eau Claire OWI Lawyer
Young drivers sometimes don't make the best decisions. I'm here to help those who are now facing a DUI and tough penalties.
HERTELLAW.COM
Experienced Wisconsin DUI Attorney
As some of you may have noticed, our FB page has been inactive for awhile. We switched our website provider, which led to needing to redo this page. Hopefully, I will return weekly to provide updated advice and information. Your continued contact is appreciated.
Today I would like to emphasize the importance of underinsured motorist insurance. In Wisconsin, every auto policy automatically includes uninsured motorist coverage by law. That insurance provides a payment when you were struck and injured by an uninsured motorist. It does not cover your property damage, but it does cover your personal injury impact, such as medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is a different type of insurance.
If you are involved in an accident with another driver who does have auto insurance, that insurance may be insufficient to cover your damages. In such circumstances, if you have elected to include UIM coverage in your insurance policy, you can pursue from your own company any amounts in excess of the maximum insurance coverage of the negligent driver (subject to certain deductions). For example, if the other driver had $25,000 worth of coverage, but your medical bills alone were $70,000, having UIM coverage up to the highest possible limit will potentially help provide you protection those bills may be paid, as well as lost income and pain and suffering. Between 2009 and 2011, underinsured motorist coverage basically prohibited anything to be subtracted from the UIM coverage and allowed the coverage to be “stacked,” if you had up to three cars on the same policy. As a result, each car’s premium you paid gave you multiple coverage if you were injured by another driver while you were operating one of the cars on the policy. In the above situation, if a 2010 driver had $100,000 UIM coverage for 3 cars, he or she could collect the $25,000 from the negligent driver’s insurer, and could seek up to $300,000 from her or his own policy.
That changed as of November 1, 2011. The legislature, responding to the insurance lobby, removed “stacking” as a requirement, so that having paid premiums for multiple cars on the same policy no longer meant you could add each car’s coverage, instead limiting you to only the one auto’s benefits. In addition, it allowed insurers to reduce what they paid out by amounts received from health insurance, worker’s compensation, and even the other driver’s insurance. In that same situation described above, if you received the $25,000 from the other driver and your health insurance covered $55,000 of the medical bills, your company would subtract that $80,000 from the $100,000, so the most you could get from your own policy to compensate you for all your damages would be $20,000. You can see how that change benefitted the insurers and not the consumers.
As a result, I recommend you get the maximum available UIM coverage on your cars, and even have it on your umbrella policy if you have one. The premiums are not that huge, and one serious accident can impose huge medical bills, an inability to work, and debilitating disability and pain for a lifetime. Several of my personal injury clients have had the foresight to protect themselves by making sure they had maximum possible UIM coverage, allowing them to receive the compensation they needed when seriously injured.
As always, you should have your legal concerns addressed by an individual lawyer, as advice here is not meant to provide actual legal advice as to any specific fact situation. In matters of personal injury or criminal defense, we provide a free initial consultation at Hertel Law, S.C., and would be glad to meet with you to review individual case situations.
