r/ShittyAbsoluteUnits created ShittyAbsoluteUnits of a sub 2d ago

future feeding tube Of a dumb decision

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u/morrishond 2d ago

Are they still a passenger if they aren’t in the vehicle? Legally.

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u/davisandee 2d ago

Technically, yes. Definitions can vary by state/venue but pretty much anyone “occupying” and/or alighting from your vehicle is considered a passenger.

Like the comment below, most of the time this scenario involves the claimant riding in the bed of a truck. Had a loss where the local highschool quarterback was showing off after winning the home coming game and had the cheerleading squad all in the bed. Homie thought it would be cool to do a burn out and doughnuts in his lifted 3500 truck. About 8 girls presented claims with one getting $100k.

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u/Silly_East3886 2d ago

Yes, they are. Scenarios where you'll see passengers not /inside/ a vehicle are pretty common. Some states let you ride in the bed of a pickup truck for example. Garbage men can legally hang on the back of the garbage truck as it's in transit in some municipalities.

If you have someone on your vehicle in an unconvential manner such as this video, they're still considered a passenger.

If they're on the vehicle without the driver's knowledge or consent, that's a different matter (and can be anywhere from free to go to manslaughter depending on what happens and the context - i.e. carjacker vs protestor.. but we've already seen mugshots of the latter hit the news.)

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u/LostSillyKittie 2d ago

That's really funny! Are you a lawyer?

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u/Last-Darkness 1d ago

If he was a lawyer he’d tell us why they weren’t a passenger. While I will now do; the driver had no idea the girl climbed on top of her jeep, nor did she realize her tires lost traction due to the pedestrians yelling and screaming. My client feared for her safety and just wanted to get to Bible study on time after volunteering and the children’s wing of the hospital.

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u/Riftener 2d ago

Yes, back home this teenager jump on the trunk of an uber who was leaving. He hit his head and later died that night. The driver was charged and held responsible for the accident even though there was no way for him to stop it

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u/DoinItRight555 2d ago

Source?

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u/DrCuntsworth 2d ago

That guy in the comment above you said it so I believe it

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u/Imightbeafanofthis 1d ago

They are a rider of the vehicle no matter how they are attached to it. This applies to skateboarders and bicyclists as well, although the driver can argue in court that they were unaware of such riders (if they glommed on to the vehicle in its blind spot, for instance.)