Golf Cart and ATV Accident Claim: Who Is Liable and What Pays

The operator is liable for negligent operation, and most golf cart and ATV injuries are negligent operation: driving too fast for the terrain, turning sharply so that a passenger is thrown out, carrying passengers on an ATV built for one rider, operating under the influence, or driving on a public road where the vehicle does not belong. A passenger injured by the operator's negligence has a claim against the operator, and the friendship or family relationship does not change it; the claim is with the insurer.

The owner is liable for negligent entrustment, lending the vehicle to someone the owner knew or should have known was unfit, including a child below the age the state permits, an intoxicated adult, or a person with no experience, and for negligent maintenance, such as brakes that failed. In many states, parents are liable by statute or doctrine for a minor's operation of a vehicle they provided. A business or homeowner that lets guests use a cart or ATV is liable for the same failures and for failing to instruct them.

Resorts, rental operators, campgrounds and tour companies that provide ATVs, UTVs and carts are liable for inadequate instruction, unsuitable terrain, poor maintenance and insufficient supervision, and they defend with the waiver every rider signs, which courts enforce in some states for ordinary negligence and refuse to enforce in others or for gross negligence. Manufacturers are liable for design defects, and ATV and UTV rollover and stability claims have a long history in product litigation.

Golf carts and ATVs fall between policies. A standard auto policy covers vehicles designed for public roads and usually excludes golf carts, ATVs and UTVs, though some policies cover a golf cart used in a community where carts are permitted on streets. A homeowner's policy covers liability for a golf cart or ATV used on the insured's own property and, for carts, often on a golf course or in a residential community, and excludes them on public roads and often off the premises entirely. Specialty policies for golf carts, ATVs and recreational vehicles exist and cover operation anywhere, but many owners do not buy them.

The result is that a passenger thrown from a friend's ATV on the friend's land may be covered by the friend's homeowner's policy; the same passenger thrown from the same ATV on a public trail may not be; and the same passenger struck by a car while riding the ATV on a road is covered by the car's policy if the car's driver was at fault but has no coverage for the ATV operator's share. Uninsured motorist coverage on the injured person's own auto policy may or may not apply, depending on whether the state and the policy treat the ATV as a motor vehicle.

Identifying every policy that might respond is the first task in these claims: the operator's homeowner's or renter's policy, the owner's, any specialty policy on the vehicle, the auto policy of any car involved, the resort's or rental operator's commercial policy, and the injured person's own UM and health coverage. The answer often determines whether the claim is worth pursuing.

Suppose you were a passenger in a UTV at a friend's rural property when the driver, your friend's adult son, took a turn on a slope at speed and the vehicle rolled, pinning your leg. You suffered a crushed ankle requiring two surgeries, with $86,000 in medical bills and five months off work.

The claim was against the son for negligent operation and against your friend, the owner, for entrusting the UTV to a driver with a history of reckless use the friend had described in texts. The friend's homeowner's policy covered liability for the UTV on the insured premises, and the claim was presented to that insurer, which accepted coverage and disputed the ankle's lasting effects. It settled within the policy's $300,000 limit.

Had the roll occurred on a public trail a mile from the property, the homeowner's policy would likely have excluded it, and the claim would have depended on whether the friend carried a specialty UTV policy, which many do not, and on your own health insurance. The product question, whether the UTV's stability was defective, was examined and not pursued because the speed and the slope explained the roll. All figures are hypothetical; the location-dependent coverage is the characteristic problem.

The usual steps apply, with several aimed at the coverage question and the vehicle.

• Photograph the vehicle, the terrain, the slope or obstacle, and the point where it rolled or struck; the location decides which policy applies.
• Get the owner's and operator's names and ask what insurance covers the vehicle; note whether it was on private property, a course, a trail or a road.
• Preserve the vehicle without repair if a rollover or mechanical failure is involved; a product claim depends on it.
• Get the names of other riders and witnesses, and any waiver you signed if the vehicle was rented or provided by a business.
• Get medical care the same day; crush injuries and head injuries from ejections are often worse than they first appear.
• Report the crash to the police if it occurred on a road, and to the state agency that regulates ATVs if the state requires it.
• Check your own auto and homeowner's policies for coverage that applies to you as a passenger or pedestrian injured by an off-road vehicle.

ATV and golf cart regulation is state and local. Most states set a minimum age for ATV operation, often 16 for full-size machines with exceptions for supervised younger riders on smaller ones, require helmets for minors, prohibit passengers on single-rider ATVs, and restrict or prohibit operation on public roads; a violation is evidence of negligence and, for a child's operation, of the adult's negligence in allowing it. Golf cart operation on public streets is permitted in many communities under state low-speed vehicle laws, with equipment and licensing requirements, and prohibited elsewhere.

Whether an ATV or golf cart is a 'motor vehicle' for the purposes of auto insurance, uninsured motorist coverage and the state's financial responsibility law varies, and it determines whether the injured person's own auto policy responds and whether the owner was required to carry coverage. Homeowner's policy exclusions for recreational vehicles are governed by the policy's language and the state's interpretation of it. Waivers signed at rental operators and resorts are enforced for ordinary negligence in many states and not for gross negligence or against minors in most.

Comparative negligence applies to the injured rider's own conduct, including riding without a helmet where required, riding as a passenger on a single-rider machine, or alcohol, and the contributory negligence states bar recovery for any share. Deadlines are the state's injury statute, one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two in Texas, California, Florida and Georgia, three in New York and North Carolina; product claims follow the state's product liability period.

Children are the most frequently injured ATV riders relative to their numbers, and most of the injuries involve a child operating an adult-size machine, a child as a passenger, or a child riding without a helmet, each of which most states prohibit. A child injured while operating an ATV an adult provided has a claim against that adult, often a parent, relative or family friend, under negligent entrustment and the state's age rules, paid by the adult's homeowner's policy where it applies. The family relationship does not bar the claim, which is brought by a guardian on the child's behalf and settled with court approval.

A child injured as a passenger on an ATV or in a golf cart has a claim against the operator and the owner. Golf cart injuries to children are frequently ejections from the rear-facing seat during a turn, and the operator's speed and the absence of restraints are the negligence; several manufacturers have added seat belts and the product question is raised where they are absent.

Camps, youth programs and resorts that provide off-road vehicles to minors face heightened duties of supervision and instruction, and the waivers their parents sign are generally not enforced against the child's own claim.

A golf cart or ATV claim is a negligence claim against the operator and often the owner, a business or a manufacturer, with a coverage question that depends on where the injury occurred and which policies exist. The questions to answer early are who operated and owned the vehicle, where it happened, what policies cover it there, and whether the vehicle has been preserved. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you or your child were hurt on or by a golf cart, ATV or UTV, you can request a free claim review.

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