Motorcyclists hit by 15 year old driver

On Saturday in Carterville, a group of three motorcyclists were hit from behind while they were stopped at stop light at Route 13.  The driver of the car that hit them was a 15 year old girl.  Two of the motorcycle riders were seriously injured, including one who had to be air-lifted by helicopter to St. Louis.

Obviously, the young girl who was driving the car was at fault for the accident.  She was in fact ticketed.  She did have a 42 year old woman in the car with her, presumably her mother or someone else who was out helping her learn how to drive.  Unfortunately, she learned a lesson about slowing to avoid a rear-end accident which she will probably never forget.

One issue that will come up following this accident is whether there will be any insurance coverage available to compensate the victims of this accident.  The answer to that question should be yes.  Odds are pretty good that the girl was not named on the insurance policy for the car -- she was not old enough to have a license yet, so even if that was a car owned by her parents, they probably would not have added her to the policy yet.

So how is there insurance coverage for her?  Illinois follows what is known as the permitted driver rule.  If you are a driver who is permitted to use the vehicle by a named insured, then you are covered by the insurance policy that covers the car.  For example, if I loan you my car and you hit a pedestrian, you would be covered by my insurance policy -- you had been permitted by me to use my car, so my insurance covers the accident.

Assuming that the older woman in the car with her was someone who was showing her how to drive, there will likely be insurance coverage available.  Given the number of people hurt and the severity of the injuries of at least one person, there may be issues raised involving Illinois underinsured motorist claims, as this is exactly the kind of multiple-victim car accident where underinsured motorist coverage is most useful.