Vehicle Collisions and the Mobility of State Law

Did you know that when you travel with friends or family, your Rhode Island vehicle collision laws might join you for the ride? This can happen because Rhode Island’s interest in making sure you and your passengers receive compensation for the injuries you sustain in an automobile collision can be greater than the interests of whichever state you were driving through at the time.
Rhode Island used to follow the “lex loci delicti” doctrine when determining which state’s laws should be applied to a car accident involving personal injury. This doctrine only applied the laws of the place where the injury occurred, regardless of whether the place had any connection to the injured parties. The idea behind the lex loci delecti doctrine was to make sure the people involved in an accident would have a predictable and consistent way of knowing which state laws would be used to resolve a lawsuit. Rhode Island courts stopped applying this doctrine in the late 1960’s. The courts made this change due to people’s increased mobility, the fact that a state’s courts did not always have a rational basis to apply its own laws to an injury, and general public policy considerations. Woodward v. Stewart, 243 A. 2d 917 (R.I. 1968). The Woodward court determined Rhode Island should abandon the lex loci delecti doctrine and instead take an approach that considered the interests each particular state had in the outcome of the lawsuit.

Rhode Island courts will consider a number of factors to determine which state’s laws will be applied to your automobile collision lawsuit. The Woodward decision requires a judge to decide which state laws to apply based on the predictability of the results, interest in maintaining order across state and national boundaries, simplification of judicial tasks, advancement of the state’s governmental interests, and selection of the better rule of law. Woodward at 923. More factors were added soon afterwards. These additional factors include considering where the injury occurred, where the actions that caused the injury occurred, the place where the relationship between the parties is centered, and the location of the parties. Brown v. Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, 105 R.I. 322, 326-27, 252 A.2d 176, 179 (1969). The location could be a residence, domicile, nationality, place of business, or place of incorporation based upon whether a private person or someone working for a business was involved in your collision.

The difference between state laws can make or break your automobile collision case. State’s laws differ in a number of important ways, including the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit, the standard of negligence that must be proven for recovery, and even the types of claims for recovery that you can make. You can help your Rhode Island car accident lawyer by telling them where the collision occurred and where all parties involved in the accident live, including passengers in any of the vehicles.