Auto Insurance Claims: car insurance deductible, parental responsibility

Question
My daughter was hit by car on bicycle.  they say she was crossing on the green when hit.  the person in the vehicle wants me to pay her deductible to get her car fixed.  Am I liable for that.
This took place in NJ

Answer
That is a very good question.  In New Jersey, there are two statutes that I am aware of that regulate parental liability.  One of them is for school property, and one is for government property.  Both statutes hold the parent responsible when a child under 18 causes damage to property.  I will follow up this answer with a more thorough response.  My gut reaction is that first, liability must be determined, it is not normally the fault of a "pedestrian" in a collision, but if the child was on a bike and not obeying traffic law, then technically the child was negligent, and whether the parent must pay for that negligence is a good question that I frankly do not know the answer to without some research.  I will follow up on this one.

Okay, here is the statute I would look at:

2A:53A-15.  Liability of parent or guardian for willful destruction of property by infant under 18
   A parent, guardian or other person having legal custody of an infant under 18 years of age who fails or neglects to exercise reasonable supervision and control of the conduct of such infant, shall be liable in a civil action for any willful, malicious or unlawful injury or destruction by such infant of the real or personal property of another.

    L.1965, c. 111, s. 2.  Amended by L.1979, c. 318, s. 2, eff. Jan. 18, 1980.



Essentially, I would take this to mean that if it could be proven that you were negligent by allowing your daughter to ride a bicycle, then it is possible you could be held liable.  There are some arguments about what is negligent and what isn't.  Parents in NJ are not normally liable for the torts of their children unless the parent knew or should have known that allowing the child to perform an activity would place others in harms way.  (like if you knew your daughter didn't know how to ride a bike well, or didn't know traffic laws regarding the use of a bike and let her ride it on the road anyway).  None of this is to be construed as legal advice!

I hope this helps!