Who is liable?

howtolive

Hi,

Hypothetical question I can't find the answer to -

Assuming Person A is the registered owner of a car, fully licensed.

Person B is a Learner Driver, a named driver on the insurance of the car.

Person B drives the car unaccompanied by a fully licensed driver, and is caught for doing so.

Is Person A liable for conviction and penalty points because they allowed Person B to drive unaccompanied, or is Person B solely liable for his/her choice to drive unaccompanied?

Cheers!

Lia_lia

Person B is solely liable as far as I know. However, if person B is in an accident person A could have to claim on their insurance lose their no claims bonus etc..

howtolive

That does seem to make the most sense!

spurious

Again hypothetically, if the owner did not give permission for the car to be driven, has it not been taken without the owner's consent? Is the consent of the owner implied if the car is not stolen?

miece16

if car is taken without consent, its considered stolen in the terms of the law

Alanstrainor

spurious wrote: »

Again hypothetically, if the owner did not give permission for the car to be driven, has it not been taken without the owner's consent? Is the consent of the owner implied if the car is not stolen?

The owner would have to proceed with making charges against them for taking the car without consent. Seems unlikely if this person is family/spouse.

Learner driver is solely responsible for being stopped without a fully licensed driver.

howtolive

But if A (the car owner) is aware that B does not have a licensed driver to travel with, and is also aware that B is using the car, is A therefore not liable for at least facilitating B's offence?

Dravokivich

howtolive wrote: »

But if A (the car owner) is aware that B does not have a licensed driver to travel with, and is also aware that B is using the car, is A therefore not liable for at least facilitating B's offence?

I don't think they become an accessory, which is my reading of the issue above. They are not really required to report it are they?

Rothmans

howtolive wrote: »

But if A (the car owner) is aware that B does not have a licensed driver to travel with, and is also aware that B is using the car, is A therefore not liable for at least facilitating B's offence?

By that logic, if I were to lend you my car and you broke a red light, stop sign, speed limit etc I could be held liable for allowing you to commit an offence by allowing you to drive my car. The same applies to driving unaccompanied.
It's not my responsibility to predict and prevent you from committing road traffic offences.

Nonoperational

B