Many car accidents involve unlicensed drivers. Some also involve drivers who have a temporary motorcycle license. In other accidents, someone is driving a motorcycle without the proper endorsement.
I wrote a separate article for motorcycle riders who are in an accident while driving without a motorcycle license.
Here, I’ll discuss the impact of not having a license on a personal injury settlement.
In some Florida injury cases, judges have let the jury hear that one of the drivers did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash. In others, they haven’t let the jury hear that one driver wasn’t licensed.
So Florida courts are split.
It usually will depend on whether the evidence and theory of the case establish the required causal connection to support the admission of evidence that the driver was an unlicensed driver. That sounds complicated.
I am going to make it simple. But before we look at some real cases, I want to drive home one point.
If At Fault Driver Doesn’t Blame the Other Driver, No License Doesn’t Matter
Let’s assume that alleged at fault driver doesn’t blame the injured person for causing the crash. In this instance, the jury won’t be able to hear that the injured person wasn’t licensed.
Bottom line:
If the alleged at fault driver admits liability, then the jury won’t get to hear that the injured person didn’t have the proper license.
In many rear end accidents, the driver of the car that crashed into the back of the other car often admits liability. But not always.
If the driver of the rear car admits liability, the jury won’t get to hear that he or she didn’t have a license.
Jury Gets To Hear That Driver Who Caused Accident Was Unlicensed
Another case talked about whether a jury gets to hear that one of the drivers who allegedly caused the crash was unlicensed. The case is Lopez v. Wink Stucco, Inc., 124 So. 3d 281 – Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 2nd Dist. 2013.
This isn’t my case. Again, I’ve read portions of the court file.
In Lopez, Lozoya was riding in a red Nissan Sentra. Her eighteen-year-old nephew, Jesus Rivera, III, was driving it.
As Rivera was attempting to turn left onto S.R. 674, he collided with a white cargo van that was driving southbound on U.S. 301.
Ramiro Pantoja-Vega, an employee of Wink Stucco, Inc., was driving the cargo van and was hauling a cement mixer affixed to a trailer.
Lozoya died at the scene from her injuries. April Lopez was appointed as personal representative of the Estate of Amalia Lozoya.
I assume that April was the daughter of Lozoya. In Florida, an adult child of the decedent can sue for pain and suffering if the decedent was not married at the time of the death.
In Florida, a minor child can always sue for pain and suffering from his or her parent’s death. The full value of these death cases are often very big.
Lopez sued claiming negligence and wrongful death against Wink Stucco, Pantoja-Vega, Rivera, and Rivera’s mother, Yvette Rivera.
Lopez went to trial against Wink Stucco and Jesus Rivera on the issue of whether Wink Stucco and Jesus Rivera were liable for causing the death of Amalia Lozoya.
The trial court let the jury hear Rivera’s deposition testimony. That testimony included questions were asked about whether Rivera had a Florida driver’s license. It also had questions about when Rivera first drove a vehicle, and how many times he had driven a vehicle in the past.
If Defense Argues That Unlicensed Driver Wasn’t Experienced, Not Having a License May Affect Settlement
The appeals court said that in this case, Wink Stucco’s theory of defense was that Rivera was an unlicensed driver without enough experience to safely judge whether he had enough time to make the left turn in front of the white cargo van.
How did Wink Stucco support this theory?
Wink Stucco presented testimony that Rivera followed other cars into the intersection after the green arrow went off and made a left turn directly in the path of the white cargo van.
Rivera was eighteen years old and had only driven occasionally since he was fifteen or sixteen because his parents did not like for him to drive their car. Wink Stucco also presented testimony that the white cargo van had the right of way with a solid green light, was not speeding, and did not have enough time to avoid the collision.
While there were factual disputes at trial, Wink Stucco’s evidence and theory of defense established the requisite causal connection to support the admission of evidence that Rivera was an unlicensed driver.
What does this mean?
Thereafter, Lopez was likely offered a smaller wrongful death settlement because a jury was likely to assign more fault to Rivera. A jury would then likely assign less fault to the white cargo van driver.
Why?
Because the jury gets to hear that Rivera for driving without a license.
Earlier, I said that I wrote a separate article about people driving a motorcycle without a license. In certain accidents, failure to have a motorcycle endorsement (while riding a motorcycle) can lower the injury settlement.
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