If someone causes an accident on purpose am I just as responsible for not having a license?

Question

Today while driving I was the victim of a crazed driver, the driver in question tailgated my vehicle for about one half mile to the point where I became nervous and tried to slow down, the driver backed for a moment and then came at my vehicle at about 60 miles an hour(* this is a 30 mile an hour zone) he then swerved around me in the parking lane and ran into the front right fender of my truck, he was traveling so fast he almost collided with the vehicle in front me. The driver that was almost hit waited for police and told the officer about the other mans conduct and how he had almost been hit as well. I do not currently have a licence due to it expiring in Jan of this year, the officer told me it was just as much my fault as the other driver because I should not have driven. How can this be? The other driver rammed me and I had a witness to attest to the the fact. Is this Legal?

Answer 1

Legally you are just as responsible for your actions as the rammer is for his; both are crimes.  However, you may have recourse to sue him for damages as an individual and with the right lawyer you could win if you have the money to pursue this.  Were you cited as well as he?  I was hit by a drunk driver, cited because I was not carrying a license at the time so paid the ticket and did not refute but sued the at fault driver and collected from his insurance carrier.

Answer 2

both of you are doing illegal activities & will both probably end up paying 4 your irresponsibility

Answer 3

The cop is right because it is illegal to drive without a valid driver's license.  Both of you should have been sited, but for different reasons.

Answer 4

This can be because of the simple fact that the law states that driving is a privelege not a right that you are to be licensed for and without the license by law you are not permitted to operate a motor vehicle. Without a license you are alos unable to obtain insurance. So, you are not licensed yet drove which is a violation of the law. Said violation lead to you being there for the other driver to hit. Your problem is compounded by the fact that you have no insurance and if you had caused any harm to anyone while violating the law your opening yourself up to huge civil penalties. It seems that you don't get the idea of obeying the law making you a party to the guilt so I'll break it down a bit further for you. Let's say you actually had a license and insurance but were intoxicated. While driving intoxicated this same supposed crazy person struck you as you said happened today. You are driving under the influence of alcohol and although the other person purposely struck you, you still are under the influence and can be charged as well. In either scenario you should technically not have been there because you were in violation of the law in both.

Answer 5

You have no excuse you should not have been on the road driving period. You might not like the answers your getting but you will not like the  judges answer any better

Answer 6

The other driver was crazy and definitely not within the law.  The driver should have been ticketed for multiple violations.  The officer was not in his right to tell you that just because you were driving on an expired license that you were also at fault.  Though there is no reason why you should have an expired license, it isn't a cause for an accident.  If your license had been suspended for poor driving or some other infraction, that could have made a difference.  When you see someone who obviously wants to get on their way even when what they are doing is wrong, get out of their way as quickly as possible and certainly don't slow down to impede their progress.  You just can't deal with road rage by making someone even angrier whether what they are doing is wrong or not.  Get your license renewed and stay out of the crazies way.

Answer 7

You should of had your license renewed.  You are both guilty but for different reasons.

Answer 8

I would say definitely legal. The whole point of having driver's licenses is that they can make sure that the people on the road know what they are doing and can drive/avoid bad drivers safely. Even if you had your license for a long time, if it is expired now then you don't have a license.

In reality, it may not have been as much your fault, because it sounds like your license expired because you neglected paperwork, not because it was taken away for your lack of skills. But legally, it is just as much your fault because you were not approved to drive at that time.

Answer 9

Driving with an expired license is illegal, that's why you're in trouble.