Hurt as a Passenger in a Michigan Car Crash

A friend, coworker, spouse, or rideshare driver was behind the wheel, and the passenger seat offered no control over what happened. Medical bills and missed shifts follow, along with the question of whose insurance is responsible. Sometimes the driver is a person close to you.

Auto accident attorneys at Vahdat Weisman Law represent injured passengers across Michigan. Call (734) 469-4994 for a free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover for you.

Whose Insurance Pays Your Medical Bills

Medical bills and lost wages are paid first through personal protection insurance (PIP), in an order set by statute. For an ordinary passenger, the first source is a no-fault policy naming you, then a spouse’s policy, then a policy of a relative in the same household (MCL 500.3114(1)). The driver’s insurer is not next in line, as it was before the 2019 reform. If no household policy applies, you claim through the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3114(4)).

• The household policy’s limit governs. If a parent chose a $250,000 medical limit, a relative living in that home is held to it (MCL 500.3107c(5)).
• Fault does not matter for PIP. Benefits are paid “without regard to fault” (MCL 500.3105(2)), so the driver’s mistakes and seat belt use do not change them.
• There is a one-year clock. Written notice or a claim generally has to reach the insurer within one year of the crash (MCL 500.3145).

If You Don’t Own a Car or Have Insurance

Owning a car is not required for PIP. What matters is whether someone in the household has a policy, and a relative’s policy can cover you even if you never saw it. In an August 2026 decision, a woman living with her sister was turned away from the Assigned Claims Plan because the sister’s policy applied to her (Cooks v Citizens Insurance Co of the Midwest, Docket No. 375350 (Mich Ct App, Aug. 13, 2026) (unpublished)).

If no one in the household has no-fault coverage, the Assigned Claims Plan is the payer. The plan caps medical benefits at $250,000 (MCL 500.3172(7)), and the application is due within one year of the crash (MCL 500.3174). Our Michigan Assigned Claims Plan page explains the process.

Buses, Work Vehicles, Rideshare and Motorcycles

Buses and commercial passenger vehicles. A passenger in a vehicle “operated in the business of transporting passengers” gets PIP from that vehicle’s insurer (MCL 500.3114(2)). Several vehicles are carved out of that rule, including school buses, buses run under a government-sponsored transportation program, taxicabs, and transportation network company vehicles. A passenger in one of those is covered by the household policy first, and the vehicle’s insurer pays only if no other policy applies. See our bus accidents and government vehicle accidents pages, since a public bus can also bring notice deadlines.

Uber and Lyft. A car counts as a transportation network company vehicle while the driver is logged on to the app or on a prearranged ride (MCL 500.3114(9)(b)). The household policy pays PIP first. Liability coverage for the driver is a separate question, covered on our rideshare accidents page.

A vehicle your employer owns. An employee, spouse, or resident relative riding in a vehicle owned or registered by the employer claims from that vehicle’s insurer (MCL 500.3114(3)). If the trip was work-related, workers’ compensation may also apply, and PIP deducts government benefits (MCL 500.3109(1)).

On the back of a motorcycle. A motorcycle passenger has a separate order, and only where the crash “shows evidence of the involvement of a motor vehicle”: the insurer of the car’s owner, then of the car’s driver, then the auto insurer of the motorcycle’s operator, then the auto insurer of the motorcycle’s owner (MCL 500.3114(5)). The passenger’s own auto policy is not on that list.

Can You Sue the Driver of the Car You Were In?

Yes. A passenger can bring a negligence claim against the driver of the car they were riding in, as well as against the driver of any other car that caused the crash. Michigan’s old guest-passenger statute, which limited those claims, was struck down decades ago (Manistee Bank & Trust Co v McGowan, 394 Mich 655 (1975)).

Recovery depends on the kind of loss:

• Pain and suffering requires death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement (MCL 500.3135(1)). Our serious impairment threshold page explains how courts apply it.
• Economic losses PIP does not cover, such as medical bills above a capped limit or wages above the monthly maximum, can be recovered without meeting that threshold (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)).

The lawsuit generally must be filed within three years (MCL 600.5805(2)).

If the driver was borrowing the car, the owner can also be liable if the owner consented to the use, and consent is presumed when a close family member was driving (MCL 257.401(1)).

If both drivers made mistakes

Michigan generally divides fault among those who caused a crash, and each defendant pays only its share (MCL 600.2956). A claim against only one driver can leave part of the loss unpaid, so every driver who shares fault matters.

Insurance pays a claim against a friend.

In practice, the claim runs against the driver’s bodily injury liability coverage. The insurer generally defends the driver and pays covered damages up to the policy limit. Any judgment above that limit is the driver’s personal responsibility, so the limit is one of the first things to learn. Michigan policies default to $250,000 per person and $500,000 per crash, but a driver can choose as little as $50,000 and $100,000 (MCL 500.3009(1), (5)).

If Your Spouse or a Family Member Was Driving

Family relationships do not block the claim. Michigan abolished the rule that kept spouses from suing each other (Hosko v Hosko, 385 Mich 39 (1971)). Children can sue a parent for ordinary negligence, except for reasonable parental authority and decisions about food, housing, medical care, and similar care (Plumley v Klein, 388 Mich 1 (1972)).

The policy can still limit the claim. Some auto policies contain a “step-down” clause that cuts liability coverage to the state minimum when the injured person is a family member living in the driver’s household. A clause removing family coverage entirely violates Michigan public policy (Farmers Insurance Exchange v Kurzmann, 257 Mich App 412 (2003)). Still, the Court of Appeals has enforced a clause that kept the statutory minimum (Ruzak v USAA Insurance Agency, Inc., Docket No. 274993 (Mich Ct App, June 24, 2008) (unpublished)). Whether the injured person lives in the driver’s household can decide whether the clause applies at all (Frownfelter v Esurance Property & Casualty Insurance Co, Docket Nos. 366118, 366120 (Mich Ct App, Feb. 24, 2025) (unpublished)).

A policy can also exclude coverage when a specifically named person is driving, if the policy carries the required warning (MCL 500.3009(2)). If a spouse was a named excluded driver, that liability coverage may not exist.

What If You Weren’t Wearing a Seat Belt?

PIP benefits are not reduced either way. The seat belt question affects only a lawsuit against a driver, and the answer depends on where you sat.

Front seat. Michigan requires the driver and front-seat passengers to wear a belt (MCL 257.710e(3)). Not wearing one “may be considered evidence of negligence,” but that negligence “must not reduce the recovery for damages by more than 5%” (MCL 257.710e(8)).

Back seat, age 16 or older. No statute requires an adult in the back seat to buckle, so the 5% limit does not apply. The other side can still argue ordinary comparative negligence. The Court of Appeals has held the reduction is not capped in that situation (Clinton v Singh, Docket No. 364398 (Mich Ct App, Oct. 12, 2023) (unpublished), relying on Lowe v Estate Motors Ltd, 428 Mich 439 (1987), and Mann v St Clair County Road Commission, 470 Mich 347 (2004)).

Any share of fault assigned to you reduces economic damages, and more than 50% bars pain and suffering (MCL 500.3135(2)(b); MCL 600.2959).

Children Riding as Passengers

A child’s PIP usually comes through a parent’s policy, since a child living at home is a resident relative (MCL 500.3114(1)). If the parents have no policy, another relative in the home may, and the Assigned Claims Plan comes next.

Michigan’s car seat law changed on April 2, 2025. Children ride rear-facing until age 2 or the seat’s limit, then in a forward-facing harness until age 5 or the limit, then in a booster until they reach 4 feet 9 inches or age 8, and children under 13 ride in the back seat when the vehicle has one (MCL 257.710d; Michigan State Police). The driver is responsible, and a violation is a civil infraction. Unlike the seat belt statute, the car seat statute contains no language making a violation evidence of negligence.

Why Choose Vahdat Weisman Law?

A passenger claim often involves several policies: the household PIP policy, each driver’s liability coverage, the vehicle owner’s coverage, and your own underinsured motorist coverage, if you carry it. The work is identifying each one, checking for step-down clauses and excluded drivers, and building the claim against each driver who shares fault.

From our Livonia office, we represent injured people and their families throughout Michigan. Founding partners Kara E. Weisman and Jordan S. Vahdat have each been honored as Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Our attorneys are members of the State Bar of Michigan and active in the Michigan Association for Justice. We advance case costs, we work in English and Spanish, and we are available 24/7.

Frequently Asked Questions

• I was a passenger in my friend’s car. Can I sue them? Yes, if your friend’s driving caused the crash and the injuries meet the threshold for pain and suffering, or there are economic losses PIP does not cover. The friend’s liability insurer defends the claim and pays up to the policy limit. PIP pays medical bills regardless of fault. I don’t have a car or insurance. Who pays my medical bills? A no-fault policy belonging to a spouse or a relative you live with pays first. If not, you can apply to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan within one year of the crash, where medical benefits are capped at $250,000.
• I wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Do I still have a case? Yes. PIP is not affected. In a lawsuit, a front-seat passenger’s reduction for not buckling is capped at 5%, while an adult in the back seat can face an uncapped comparative fault argument.
• My spouse was driving. Can I make a claim? Yes, Michigan allows spouses to sue each other for negligence. Check the policy for a step-down clause that limits coverage for household family members, and for a named excluded driver provision.

About the Author

Jordan S. Vahdat is a founding partner of Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia and handles negligence, premises liability, auto accident, and insurance dispute cases. He has been admitted to all Michigan state courts since 2014, practices in the Eastern District of Michigan, and has served as a case evaluator for the Washtenaw Circuit Trial Court and the 15th District Court since 2020. He is fluent in Spanish.

Talk to a Michigan Passenger Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt as a passenger, call Vahdat Weisman Law at (734) 469-4994 or contact us online for a free consultation. Available 24/7, serving all of Michigan, with Spanish-speaking staff.

Dedicated to Justice. Devoted to You. Winning for Your Future.

Reviewed by Jordan S. Vahdat, Vahdat Weisman Law. Last reviewed October 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.