Copyright © 2025 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.
A passenger in a DC car accident has a right to compensation, the same as the driver or a pedestrian. A passenger’s legal process is unique because often, the passenger uses an auto insurance policy that is not under their name. And yet, you may still need to provide our office with your insurance policy in specific instances. Clients frequently question why this is necessary. One possible reason is for personal injury protection, or PIP. PIP is highly complex in DC, and you should consult with a DC car accident lawyer before making a PIP claim. The second reason we may use your personal auto insurance as a passenger is for an underinsured or UIM claim. You can make this claim if your case is worth more than the available policy can compensate you for.
The silver lining to being a passenger in a DC car accident is you are almost definitely not liable for the accident. There may be a dispute between the drivers involved, but no one will point the finger that you are at fault. And even if your driver says you were distracting them, this argument will likely fail. However, as much as you are in the clear, we still need to know who to blame. And unfortunately, this can still be as drawn out of a process as any other car accident case. In some cases, we may have to sue both drivers. Only one driver probably is to blame. But many passengers do not watch the road as carefully as a driver. This makes establishing fault and blaming one driver over another more challenging.
As a passenger in a DC car accident, you have specific rights that protect you in the event of an injury. The common law in Washington, DC, protects the victims of negligence. It allows you to recover compensation when you are injured due to another party’s careless actions. One of your primary rights is the ability to file a personal injury claim to cover medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other related costs. But to do this, we must be able to prove each element of negligence. Further, we must establish a causal link between the breach of the legal duty owed and the damages. If you are in a vehicle whose driver is negligent and injures you, you have a right as a passenger to recover under that driver’s insurance policy. You have a right to settle your case for damages.
If that offer does not reflect your case’s value fairly, you have the right to file a lawsuit against the defendant. You are also entitled to the adverse insurance company treating you with good fath. If they do not engage in good faith dealings, you may be able to pursue a bad faith claim against them. These are more complex than they sound. To capitalize on a bad faith claim against an insurer, they need to offer you less than the policy limits for your injuries. Then, we send a bad faith letter to the insurance company as caselaw requires. Then, if we get a verdict in excess of the policy limits, the insurer may be liable for that verdict. However, in any instance where you wish to exercise your rights as a passenger in a DC car accident, you must take specific steps.
Contact a DC car accident attorney to preserve your legal rights.
A passenger in a DC car accident case suffers slightly different injuries in the aggregate than a driver in the front seat. While many of the injuries are the same, like neck and back injuries, you may slam your face on the seat in front of you. You can quickly run into issues if the seat in front of you does not leave enough space.
A whiplash injury is perhaps the most common injury for any car accident victim. When the car you are in stops suddenly, the seatbelt should hold your body in place while your head jolts forward and then whips back. We handle whiplash and neck injuries daily. We have decades of experience explaining to judges and juries alike the ways in which a neck injury can impact your life. A whiplash injury is just as common if you are a passenger as if you are the driver. The exception is if the seat in front of you is so close that you slam into it instead of being stopped by your seatbelt. When you slam into the seat in front of you, you may suffer other injury types, too.
The most common injury we notice if you are a passenger in a DC car accident, besides a neck or back injury, is a head or brain injury. As a passenger, you may slam your head into the seat in front of you. This leads to traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and concussions. Although, proving a head injury can be challenging. While brain scans may pick up damage in severe cases, they will not for a more mild headache. Nonetheless, a concussion is a compensable injury. Our auto accident attorneys have decades of experience making these arguments at trial. For a more severe brain injury, our attorneys will work tirelessly to prove the long-term effects of your injury. This extends beyond when we resolve your case.
A prudent injury attorney considers the impact of your injury years into the future. However, proving this is tricky. For cases with more severe injuries, we may retain an expert witness who will testify that someone who suffers a brain injury like yours may never be the same.
You may suffer a broken bone whether you are the driver in a car accident or the passenger. Common fractures include arms, legs, ribs, wrists, and collar bones. If you go to the emergency room immediately after the accident, the attending physician should causally relate your injury to the accident. Particularly with a rib fracture, although really with any type of broken bone, physical therapy is not as effective as it is with a soft tissue injury. For example, if you suffer from neck or back soreness, visiting a chiropractor or physical therapist may aid your recovery. However, when you break your rib, going to the chiropractor is not helpful. This results in lower medical expenses and potentially a lower case value. Meanwhile, a broken rib is extremely painful. Every breath you take can cause pain. Thus, your case should realistically be worth more than soreness.
However, the defense team will try to minimize your injury. They will argue that you only went to the doctor a few times. With such few doctor visits, your injury could not possibly be as bad as you claim. But we know that this argument is foolish. And it is our job to convince a judge or jury that it is, too, and convince them of the severity of your injury. In doing so, we discuss the limitations on your quality of life. You cannot participate in your favorite hobbies, and movement is difficult.
Soreness is the most common injury in an auto accident. This is true whether you are a passenger in the front or back seat. Unlike a broken bone, which ironically does not require as much medical treatment as a broken collar bone, which heals on its own, soreness can greatly benefit from consistent medical treatment. Consequently, you may have expensive medical bills for an accident you did not cause. Soreness does occur whether you are in the backseat of a car or the front seat as a passenger. It is probably more likely as a passenger when your seat is not adjusted correctly. This can lead to poor lumbar support and a sore back in an accident.
If you are a passenger in a car accident, it is safe to bet you are not at fault for the accident. And it can be a relief to know that neither side will blame you. However, that is generally when the convenience ends. We still must determine who must pay for your damages. As you did not cause the accident, we know it would be fundamentally unfair for you to have to pay your own hospital bills and therapy balance, miss weeks of work, and be in pain without compensation. So, who is liable? It may be the driver of the vehicle you are in at the time of the accident.
This can get awkward in the car with a family member or friend. However, the reality is that your friend or family member’s insurance premiums will increase anyway. After an accident, you are required to tell your insurer. Thus, whether you make a claim under the policy of the car you are in does not affect their rates. In other words, they have no vested interest in if you make a claim for personal injuries or not. Although, it can still be an awkward situation that gives many injured passengers pause. We are happy to speak with you and the car’s owner and explain the benefit you receive and the negligible difference the car’s owner will feel.
A claim against a third party is as likely as a claim against a friend or family member. Of course, this is far less of a moral dilemma because you likely do not know the negligent driver responsible for your injuries in this example. On the other hand, when you are making a claim against someone you know, it is easy to get all the information you need. But in an accident where a third party is at fault, you have to collect all vital information. This includes vehicle information, insurance information, and insurance on the driver and owner of the car. A failure to do so can actually result in an inability to make a claim if you neglect to obtain that information.
Of course, if the other driver refuses to turn over that information or flees the scene, then you can make an uninsured motorist claim on the policy of the car you are in.
Not long ago, DC accident claims against family members were prohibited in all jurisdictions. The rationale was that it is terrible public policy for family members to sue each other. This was true even of pre-litigation settlements against family members. The law was called inter-family tort immunity, which included spousal immunity. In most jurisdictions, a victim of negligence may make accident claims against family members. Although, the claim is limited to the insurance policy limits. This is a much better law, allowing compensation under a policy paid for just such an occurrence (to compensate those injured by the insured’s negligence). Therefore, if you have been injured due to the negligence of a family member, consult with a DC auto accident lawyer today to discuss what options may be available.
Accidents involving family members are more common than people realize, and when they happen, injured parties may wonder if they can pursue compensation. Consider how often families ride together in the same vehicle. Then, in roughly half of the accidents in Washington, DC, at least one of the drivers is at fault.
Now, imagine that you are riding in the car with your family as a passenger in a DC car accident. Your father is driving the car, your mother is in the front seat, and your sibling is in the back with you. Your father is speaking with your family, and his attention is not on the road, which causes him to rear-end the vehicle in front of you. Unfortunately, everyone in the car sustains serious injuries.
In this scenario, you cannot sue the driver of the car in front of you because he is not at fault. The only person you can sue is the driver of your vehicle, your father. So, why would you do this? Is it not immoral to file a lawsuit against your father? Here is why you would not do it. If your father does not have auto insurance, then he is personally liable for damages arising out of the accident. If that is the case, maybe you should think twice before filing a lawsuit. However, if he does have insurance, you can sue only up to the amount that insurance will cover if you choose. This allows you to get the compensation you deserve. But what about raising his insurance rates? If he is in an auto accident, his rates will probably increase.
And if the other driver is already making a claim, they are almost certainly rising. Thus, there is no harm to your father to make additional claims under that policy.
Under statutory law, you can now make a pre-litigation claim or file a lawsuit against a family member for negligence arising out of a DC car accident. Ultimately, DC accident claims against family members are about compensating you for your injuries so you can pay your bills. It is not necessarily something done out of indignation against a family member. Moreover, in many cases, particularly if their insurance rates are already increasing (which will happen so long as their insurer is aware of the accident; the family member is required to inform them), there is no additional cost against the family member.
Our DC car accident attorneys have practiced personal injury law in Washington, DC, for over 71 years. In countless instances, we have had family members tell us that they already have a claim made against them by another party in the accident. So, they want their family member to get at least a part of their policy.
Filing an accident claim against a family member can be legally straightforward but ethically complex. In 2025, there are no additional legal considerations beyond the standard nuances of personal injury law that apply to DC accident claims against family members. The sole exception to this is if a family member is an excluded driver under your auto policy. If you are unsure whether your family member is excluded, please feel free to forward your insurance contract to our office. We will parse through the language and determine if there are excluded drivers.
A few years ago, we represented a woman who was very seriously injured when her husband drove his vehicle, in which my client was a passenger, into the garage of a home. The accident was covered on the local news. The elderly husband swore that the brakes failed and that the vehicle operated independently to cause the accident. Not surprisingly, the driver’s insurer inspected the car and determined that the driver’s error caused the accident. The wife’s injuries included a fractured kneecap and significant residual scarring. The medical bills incurred were in excess of $50,000.00, and the case ultimately settled for several hundred thousand dollars. My client was fortunate that she and her husband had a substantial policy and that the law now allows a spouse to claim her husband.
Navigating the aftermath of a DC car accident claim can be complex. You are already possibly emotional due to the loss of life, loss of your car, at least temporarily, inability to work due to injury, and potentially severe physical pain. When you throw in the mix that the tortfeasor who injured you is a friend, your case becomes that much more complicated. While you may be in severe pain, your friend may be too. While you might not know how you will afford your car repairs and medical treatment, your friend may be equally as lost. Empathy is an important quality; no one should tell you that you should be angry at your friend if the accident was due to carelessness. Unless it was due to something reckless like drunk driving or texting and driving, it was likely just a mistake.
But it was not harmless. You may be left with thousands of dollars in repair costs, not to mention thousands of dollars in hospital bills and physical therapy. What is worse, your insurance carrier will refuse to pay for these costs if you were not at fault for the accident. They know that your friend’s insurer is ultimately responsible for your injuries. Insurance companies are not known to make payments when they do not have to. So, why should you be stuck paying these bills out-of-pocket if you did not cause the car accident? We will show you how to handle this dilemma’s personal and legal aspects.
On the personal side, we recommend communicating with your friend about what is happening. They may initially not like the idea of you making a claim with their insurance carrier. They may worry that you will get their rates to increase. However, the reality is that their negligent driving, resulting in an accident, is causing their rates to increase. The fact that you now have bills to pay has nothing to do with that. Open and honest communication between friends is vital throughout the claims process. It’s important to clarify that the claim is against the insurance policy, not personally against the friend, to help preserve the relationship.
We also recommend being transparent. Do not try to hide this from your friend. After your friend’s DC car accident, their life may be turned upside down. While insurance will cover most of their bills, the injuries and car maintenance required can be fatiguing. Moreover, they may be feeling guilt for the pain and suffering you are going through.
Even if you own your own car, the insurance on the vehicle you are in is primary. So, suppose that the driver of the car you are in causes an accident. In this instance, you can sue the driver of that car. But whose insurance covers the loss? The insurance of the car you are in is responsible for your damages. You can subsequently make an underinsured claim through your own policy, but that is not until after you have exhausted the policy on the car you are in. And these are not the only two sources of compensation available in your case. Below, we explore all sources of compensation that may be available to you as a passenger in a DC car accident case.
If you are an Uber passenger, your driver’s typical auto insurance does not apply. Instead, insurance through Farmers Insurance is primary. Nonetheless, it is always smart to get all the information on the driver of the vehicle you are in. So, you should still request his name and home address so we can serve him with the process if we have to file a lawsuit, as well as vehicle information and insurance information. The issue with making a claim with a rideshare insurance policy is they will try to push the blame onto the driver’s personal insurance, even though they have no right to do so if you are in the vehicle as part of a rideshare trip. Our attorneys can help you and the various insurance companies sort everything out and get you the compensation you deserve.
PIP as a passenger in a DC car accident can be complex. Whether you should even use your PIP depends on whether you are a DC resident. If you are a DC resident, you should probably not use PIP because it will bar your right to make a personal injury claim. However, if you are a Maryland resident in a DC car accident, you should absolutely make a PIP claim. But making a PIP claim as a passenger in a DC accident makes it even more complicated. You may only make a PIP claim if there is PIP on the vehicle you are in and you have also not waived PIP on your policy.
So, to make a PIP claim, we will need to prove to the insurance company that you never waived PIP on your policy by forwarding a copy of your declaration page. Only then can you utilize the PIP on the car you are in. If you are a Virginia resident in a DC car accident, there is a comparable no-fault protection known as medical payment coverage. Our attorneys are well-versed in handling DC passenger accident claims no matter what state you reside in. Contact our office today for a free case consultation to better understand if making a PIP or Med-Pay claim makes sense in your case.
You should take several important steps as a passenger in a DC accident. Of course, you are not legally required to take these steps as you are if you are a driver of a vehicle involved in the accident. Nonetheless, following the steps below will preserve and maximize the value of your case.
The most important thing to do as a passenger in an accident is to seek medical attention. While this positively impacts your legal case, it is most important because it protects your health and safety. This means getting to a safe point on the side of the road while you wait for emergency services if possible. If you think it is necessary, get in the ambulance and go to the hospital. The doctors will create a medical record at the hospital that will be useful evidence in future legal proceedings.
This is critically important. Even if the police document the scene and create a police report, they do not get everything. Take pictures with your phone of anything you deem relevant. Do not rely on the driver to do this for you. Your driver’s interests may conflict with yours. So, he may not cooperate until we subpoena him in a lawsuit. Then, get the name, street address, insurance information, and vehicle information of the car you are in and of any other car. Sometimes, a client will tell us that their driver refused because they said they already gave it to the police or the information is in the rideshare app. It is illegal for them to refuse to exchange information.
Nonetheless, if they still do not exchange information and the police do not come to the scene or make a report, take a photograph of your car’s license plate. We can get much information from this, although it may take a bit longer.
Protect your rights by speaking with a personal injury lawyer to guide you through the claim process. Even as a passenger, reporting the accident to all relevant insurance companies is critical. In some instances, you may need to make an uninsured or underinsured claim under your own policy on the vehicle at home. You can do this even if you do not own nor are on the car’s policy that was in the accident. Some passengers fear doing this because they did not cause the accident and do not wish their premiums to increase. However, the fact that you did not cause the accident is the very reason why this is ok to do. Your insurer legally cannot raise your premiums if you do not cause the accident.
If they do so anyway as retaliation, you should file a claim with the insurance commissioner.
Our legal team handles everything in your case from start to finish. We help determine liability. As a passenger, you probably were not paying sufficient attention to the road to know who was at fault in your accident. That is okay. Our accident reconstruction experts and team of attorneys can piece together how the accident happened. We also handle your insurance negotiations. We can leverage any negotiation with the threat of litigation. That is not a threat a layperson can make. We also work hard to gather evidence to make your case. We comply with all applicable statutes. If necessary, we will litigate your case and fight to get you as large of a recovery as possible.
Call our office today for a free case evaluation at (202) 331-7227.
Copyright © 2025 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.