Road trips are popular right now, by car, RV, and motorcycle. In the age of social distancing, there's evidence that road trips might be the preferred way to travel for quite a while.
There's nothing like riding a motorcycle down a scenic highway or taking an RV to explore every part of the United States.
What happens if you get in an accident while you're on a road trip in a different state, though?
No one wants to think about it, but it is a possibility, and the following outlines what you should know.
Immediate Steps
The steps you should take right away after an accident are no different whether you're in your home state or you're on a road trip. You should seek medical attention if necessary, and contact 911.
If you're medically okay and not injured, after you call the police, you'll need to take pictures of the scene at the accident, get names of witnesses and never admit fault.
You will also need to let your insurance company know.
So it's what happens beyond those initial steps that you might really be questioning.
Does Your Insurance Cover Out-of-State Accidents?
You may wonder if your insurance policy will cover out-of-state accidents, and the answer is yes, it will in almost all cases. Most insurance policies cover all 50 states and U.S. territories. There are even some that will cover you in Canada.
If you were to drive to Mexico, however, your policy would not likely provide coverage if you were in an accident.
If you are in an accident out-of-state, your coverage limits typically adjust to meet the requirements of the state you're in when you're in the accident.
If your home state is in Florida, as an example, and you have a policy with minimum liability limits of 10/20/10 for property damage, and you have PIP but your accident is in Georgia, there are different minimum liability limits. In that case, your policy limits will automatically go up to meet the minimum in Georgia.
If you're in an accident in a state with lower liability limits than is the case in your home state, your policy won't decrease. Instead, it provides the maximum coverage on your policy, even if it's above what's required in the state you're visiting.
What If You Want to File a Personal Injury Claim?
If you're in an accident and you want to file a personal injury lawsuit, then you can either file it in the state where the defendant lives or where the accident occurs.
You can't file the claim in your home state unless the defendant agrees to be sued there, and that's not likely for fairly obvious reasons.
Where you file a lawsuit has a huge bearing on the case.
For example, if you have an accident in a state with pure contributory negligence statutes, plaintiffs can't recover any damages, even if they're 1% at fault.
By contrast, if you have an accident in New York, there's a pure comparative fault statute. That means your damages as a plaintiff would be reduced by your percentage of fault.
What About Multiple Defendants?
It's possible a personal injury claim for an accident could involve multiple defendants. If it does, and you're in a state with a lot of out-of-state visitors, what then happens if the defendants are all from different places?
If you're a plaintiff in that situation, you have a few options as well.
You can sue all the defendants where the accident took place or in a state where at least one of the defendants lives.
So as an example, you're in an accident with two other people in Florida. One person is from Georgia, and one is from South Carolina. You can sue in any one of those three places.
With all this in mind, if you are in an out-of-state accident, what matters most are the laws in that state first and foremost. For example, your case might be subject to the statute of limitations in the state where the accident happened.
To understand the details of an out-of-state accident, your first stop should be a personal injury lawyer in the state where the accident happened. They can help you figure out what to do next.
As far as insurance, it will cover you if you're in an accident in a different state, so that takes one concern off your plate.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
