If tourists don’t cooperate with you, you can still do something by hiring a lawyer.
The United States receives countless tourists every year. Many people choose California for their vacation after seeing or hearing about the state on television or in a news article. Los Angeles and San Francisco are two cities where tourists love to spend their time.
But tourists should be aware of various risks such as car accidents. In California, for example, there were 3,606 car accident deaths in 2019, a rate of 1.06 per 100 million miles driven. More people have been injured in crashes across the state, forcing people to seek help from San Francisco car accident attorneys to help them with their claims.
But what if you were injured in a car accident caused by a foreign tourist? Can you sue this person? Let’s find out.
Suing the Alien Responsible for the Car Accident
You can sue someone for a car accident, regardless of their citizenship status. Just because a person is a foreign tourist doesn’t mean they can’t be held accountable for their actions. Anyone visiting the United States must obey all of the country’s laws, and the same applies anywhere they visit.
While you can sue a foreign tourist for a car accident, you should know that they have the right to defend themselves. They may hire a lawyer to help them with the case, and they can remain silent until they find a criminal defense attorney.
Now, while you can sue this person if they injured you or damaged your car during the incident, there are a few things you should know in case the perpetrator leaves the United States.
Litigation options
Now, even if you know that the person who caused the accident was a foreign tourist and you plan to sue them, that person may leave the country. This puts you in a bind because now you can’t get legal jurisdiction over the individual. What can you do when traditional avenues to litigation are no longer available?
Fortunately, there are other options:
- Medpay or Personal Injury Protection – If you’re lucky enough to have Medpay or Personal Injury Protection, you can get reimbursed for some of the damage you suffered in an accident. These protections can pay you a certain amount of money. A PIP can pay for medical expenses after an accident, as well as pain and suffering, and time lost at work. Medpay, on the other hand, will only pay for medical expenses.
- Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Insurance – Another thing you can take advantage of if you are injured in a car accident with foreign tourists and they leave the country is uninsured/underinsured motorists insurance. This coverage is to pay for car accident damages in the absence of other insurance coverage.
- Foreign national insurance – Sometimes foreigners pay for insurance when they visit the country and want to drive a vehicle. If the tourist who injured you in the car accident has this insurance, then you can claim compensation and the money will be paid from the foreigner’s insurance.
- Sue the US company — In some cases, a U.S. company may be liable for the actions of foreign tourists. Other times, the company may be responsible in some way for the crash. For example, a problem with a car leased by a company leads to an accident. Another situation where a company can be sued is when the tourist works for a US company.
jurisdictional matters
It is difficult for U.S. courts to adjudicate in car accidents if someone is in a different country during the trial of the case. When an individual resides in another country, that country must have jurisdiction over it—otherwise, things get a little trickier.
Now, thanks to treaties between countries, nationals who have fled the country can be tried in court in a few cases. However, you need to hire a knowledgeable and experienced attorney to make things work.
steps taken
Have you been injured in a car accident with foreign tourists? This can get very stressful, and you might think you’ll never be compensated.
If tourists don’t cooperate with you, you can still do something by hiring a lawyer. They’ll know how to handle coverage and jurisdiction issues so you can get coverage for your loss and suffering.
