Guest statute
A
guest statute is a term used in the
law of
torts to describe a
statute that makes it more difficult for a
passenger in an
automobile to recover damages from the driver for injuries received in an accident resulting from ordinary negligence on the part of the driver. Instead, passengers are limited to suits based on
gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. The statute may also place a cap on the damages to be awarded, or limit damages to compensation for actual physical injuries.
The purpose of the guest statute is to both protect drivers from
frivolous litigation, and to protect
insurance companies from
collusive and fraudulent suits (wherein the passenger sues the driver in order to collect from the driver's insurer). For the same reason, some states also passed
aviation guest statutes, which limit the liability of non-commercial airplane passengers. However guest statutes of all types have now been abolished in most states, either legislatively or by the
courts.
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Legal Issues in Accidents and the Status of Passengers
