If you have suffered a personal injury as a passenger in a car accident then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

All drivers have a duty of care to their passengers. If you were involved in a road accident and you were a passenger then your claim may be against the driver of the car in which you were travelling or it may be against the driver of the other vehicle. Whoever is at fault you, as the innocent passenger, could obtain compensation.

You do not need to worry if you are related to, or close friends with, the driver of the car as the claim will be dealt with by their insurers. It is possible for husbands to claim against wives and even children against parents. If the claim is by a child against their parent the other parent or another relative will have to be the person responsible for bringing the claim. This person is known as the litigation friend and will take all the decisions for the child. Compensation paid for a child will normally be kept by the court until they are 18 although it is possible to ask the court to pay out some of the money earlier for the child’s benefit.

Passengers as well as drivers should always take reasonable care for their own safety and wear seatbelts and use head restraints. The amount of compensation you receive could be less if this was not the case. This failure should not reduce the amount of compensation a child receives as the parent would normally be responsible for ensuring that the child followed the regulations. This may be different if the child was over 14.

The regulations relating to seatbelts and child restraints are as follows:

• Children Under 3 Years: Must use the correct, well fitted child restraint, whether in the front or rear seat.  If there is no restraint available in a taxi, the child may travel unrestrained. No rear facing seat should be used in the front of a vehicle protected by active air bags.
• Children up to 12 Years or 1.35m in Height (whichever they reach first) Must use the correct, well fitted restraint, whether in the front or rear seat. If in a taxi, on a short journey of unexpected necessity or if two occupied child seats prevent a third from being fitted, the child must wear an adult seatbelt if available.
• Children over 1.35m in Height or of 12 or 13 Years: Must wear an adult seatbelt if available, whether in the front or rear seat.
• Adults and Children of 14 Years or Over: Must wear an adult seatbelt if available, whether in the front or rear seat.

Anyone over the age of 14 is legally responsible for wearing their seatbelt. For children under the age of 14, the driver is responsible for ensuring that the correct restraint/seatbelt is worn.