carrying a passenger-legalities?

'scorthy

Dear friends, a workmate will be asking me for a lift to & from work. I have no intentions asking him to contribute but should I ask him to sign an accident disclaimer?

v300

He can fill the car with fuel every second week or some such thing
as a legal payment if your so inclined to look for a bit of compensation.

Disclaimer is not worth the paper it's written on,
if you crash and he gets injured he's gonna' sue,
as would you in a vice versa situation.

If you're that nervous of him suing you, then don't give him a lift.:D

It will probably work out alright though as thousands of lads
give mates lifts into work every day.

Note: If he has or you have a signed receipt or disclaimer
that indicates that you are doing it for reward, then YOU
are breaking the law, and if things get nasty your insurance
will not cover you under a normal private insurance policy.

Leave no paper trail.

galwaytt

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Why, what purpose would it serve ?

'scorthy

Thanks for the replies guys.
I seek no reward; times are hard enough for some....just trying to cover my ass.

Paulw

'scorthy wrote: »

I seek no reward; times are hard enough for some....just trying to cover my ass.

To what end? Cover yourself in what way???

Seth Brundle

'scorthy wrote: »

just trying to cover my ass.

Being a bit homophobic towards your workmate?

Henry Ford III

Minimum insurance is 3rd party, which is exactly what your passenger is.

In the event of a crash, which is your fault, your passenger can sue you for damages for any personal injuries sustained.

seamus

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Minimum insurance is 3rd party, which is exactly what your passenger is.

In the event of a crash, which is your fault, your passenger can sue you for damages for any personal injuries sustained.

^^ What this man says. Your mandatory third-party insurance will cover all injuries to passengers, so don't worry about it. If you crash and he sues, your insurance company will look after it.

'scorthy

kbannon wrote: »

Being a bit homophobic towards your workmate?

Very witty kbannon..:D..took me a while to get it...:eek: Ooops another double entendre!

I think it is now clear to me coalescing the replies...my third party insurance will do the trick providing any injury sustained by my passenger is not a direct result of my neglience, which would need to be proved in the event of an accident. Any disclaimer signed by my passenger would not be valid as it would be negated by my (a) 3rd party cover (b) driver error.

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid but you hear how doing the good Samaritan sometimes backfires; coupled by the fact that another workmate sowed the seeds of the 'claim mentally' of this person in my mind.

stevenmu

'scorthy wrote: »

...my third party insurance will do the trick providing any injury sustained by my passenger is not a direct result of my neglience...

Actually it will do the trick if it's a direct result of your negligence. In theory any accident is the result of someone's negligence. If it turns out that it's your negligence which is to blame, then your insurance covers it. If it's somebody else's negligence, then you both get to sue that person, and their insurance if they have any covers it.

As a practical matter, if you do crash or are involved in some accident, unless you can prove it was somebody else's negligence which caused it, then your negligence did

'scorthy

Thanks everyone for your replies...it is becoming clearer to me. Forewarned is forearmed...or something like that. In 30 years I never had a crash or accident/claim. It's just that with these current weather conditions one never knows. The road I travel to and from work is notorious - even in the best of weather!

frank gooding

Jaysus sounds like someone over thinking a lift.

I never worried about this sort of thing when giving anyone a lift.

I do know a couple that fell out with friends.

She crashed, her fault. Mates were badly injured so very reasonably went after compo. You would think that the woman was being personally sued.

Crazy