Riding shotgun used to mean you controlled the radio, but after a crash it can mean answering to more insurance companies than either driver.
If you were injured as a passenger in a car accident, you almost certainly didn’t cause it. You had no say over the speed, the lane change or the yellow light somebody tried to beat. The complication is that two drivers, two insurers and possibly your own policy can all have a piece of your claim, and each would prefer that someone else pay your medical bills. If you get the order wrong, and you can run out of coverage long before you run out of doctor’s appointments.
Our Lanham car accident attorneys help passengers sort out who owes what. Here’s how Maryland protects passengers, which policies pay and in what order, and what happens when more than one person in the car gets hurt.
Your Rights as a Passenger, and Maryland’s All-or-Nothing Rule
Passenger rights in auto accidents start with a simple duty. Every driver owes reasonable care to the people riding with them and to everyone else on the road. When a driver breaks that duty and you get hurt, you have a claim, whether the careless driver was the one you rode with or the one who hit you.
The catch is contributory negligence. Maryland is one of a handful of places left where anyone who contributed to their own injury, even slightly, can be barred from recovering anything.
Passengers rarely run into that rule. You weren’t steering or braking, so the defense needs something unusual, like a rider who grabbed the wheel, deliberately distracted the driver or knowingly decided to ride with a drunk driver.
What about the seat belt you forgot to buckle? Under Maryland law, skipping it can’t be treated as contributory negligence and can’t reduce what you recover. In an ordinary crash case, the other side can’t even bring it up at trial.
Filing a Claim Against the At-Fault Driver, Even When You Know Them
Filing a claim as a passenger usually starts with the liability coverage of whoever caused the crash. If the other driver ran the red light, your claim goes to that driver’s insurer. If the person you rode with caused it, the claim goes to theirs. If both drivers share the blame, you can pursue both, and each one can be held responsible for your full damages.
These third-party insurance claims can get uncomfortable when the at-fault driver is your best friend, your coworker or your brother-in-law. You may be dreading the next family dinner, or the next time you pass that coworker in the break room.
Remember what the claim asks for, though. You’re asking an insurance company your friend pays every month to do exactly what it was paid to do. In most cases, the insurer handles the claim from start to finish, and the money comes out of the policy, not your friend’s savings.
Your Own Insurance Rides Along: PIP and Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Maryland builds a safety net into almost every auto policy. Personal injury protection, or PIP, typically pays at least $2,500 toward medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the crash. PIP coverage for passengers usually comes first from the policy on the car you were riding in, with your own household policy as the backup if that car had none. Maryland law also bars insurers from raising your premium over a PIP claim, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration.
Medical bills for injured passengers can surpass $2,500 fast. When the at-fault driver has no insurance or too little, uninsured motorist coverage for passengers takes over. The standard version pays only the difference between your UM limit and the at-fault driver’s limit, so if you both carry the $30,000 minimum, it might not pay anything.
Enhanced underinsured motorist coverage pays on top of what the at-fault driver’s insurer already paid. It has been the default on Maryland policies issued since July 1, 2024, unless the policyholder waived it. Pull up your declarations page before you assume you’re stuck with the minimum. The coverage you need may already be on it.
Several Injured Passengers, One Shrinking Policy Limit
Minimum insurance limits in Maryland are 30k per person and 60k per accident. If there were four people hurt in one vehicle, the other driver’s insurance company could only pay a total of 60k for those four passengers. Even if they had to go through many surgeries. Or days of work missed. Or weeks of physical therapy.
This is an issue with passenger accidents that have several victims. Everyone draws from the same account, and every claim that settles first leaves less for the passengers still in treatment.
When payments to other passengers shrink the at-fault driver’s remaining coverage below your own UM limit, Maryland law treats that driver as underinsured for your claim. This can open up your own policy. A fair passenger car accident settlement here depends on documenting your injuries early and finding every policy in play before the money runs out.
Let GDH Law Firm Sort Out Who Pays
You did nothing wrong and still ended up with the most complicated claim from the crash. GDH Law Firm helps injured passengers find every policy that applies, puts them in the right order and presses each insurer to pay its share. Our firm is based in Lanham. We handle car accident claims throughout Prince George’s County, and consultations are free.
If you were hurt riding in someone else’s car, reach out to our firm to talk through your options. You were along for the ride. You shouldn’t be the one paying for it.
