Passengers, pedestrians and cyclists: who the claim is against

You were not driving, so who answers?

A personal injury claim is made against the person whose act or omission caused the injury. On the road that is nearly always a driver, and the driver's motor insurer deals with the claim and pays what is assessed or awarded. Compulsory motor insurance under the Road Traffic Act 1961 exists for this reason, and it covers passengers, pedestrians and cyclists as much as other drivers.

The claim is against the driver personally; it is the insurer that answers it. That matters for the passenger who hesitates to name the person who was driving them home. The insurance was bought for this.

Passengers

A passenger has no duty of care to other road users and almost never carries any share of the fault for how two vehicles came together. That makes a passenger's position simpler than a driver's: whichever driver caused the collision answers for it, and where it is unclear which, both are named and their insurers sort out the shares between them.

Three things are still worth knowing.

• Name every driver you say is responsible on the Board's application. Section 50 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 pauses the two-year clock only against the respondents the application names; a driver added later has their own dates. The guide to the pause explains it.
• Where the driver of your own car was uninsured, or the other vehicle did not stop, the MIBI answers the claim, with conditions about what a passenger knew of the insurance position.
• A seat belt is the one point on which a passenger's own conduct is usually raised. See contributory negligence below.

Pedestrians

A pedestrian's claim is against the driver. The questions a respondent's insurer asks are about the crossing: where you crossed, whether there was a signal and what it showed, the lighting, what you were wearing and whether the driver could have seen you in time. None of these stops a claim; each can reduce an award if a court finds you contributed to what happened.

The record you can make in the first days matters more for a pedestrian than for most claimants, because there is no vehicle of your own and often no witness who knows you. Photographs of the place, the crossing and the sightlines, the Garda station and reference, the name of anyone who stopped, and a doctor's note of the injuries on the day: the first-week checklist lists them in order.

Cyclists and e-scooter riders

A cyclist struck by a vehicle claims against the driver in the same way. A cyclist is a road user with duties of their own, so lights, position on the road, a signal not given and a helmet not worn are the points a respondent raises. Helmets are not required by law for cyclists in Ireland, and whether the absence of one counts against a head injury is argued case by case.

E-scooters have their own rules since May 2024, and a collision between a cyclist and an e-scooter rider, or between either and a pedestrian, usually has no motor insurer behind the person at fault. The e-scooter and bicycle guide covers what is settled and what is not.

Contributory negligence

Section 34 of the Civil Liability Act 1961 lets a court reduce damages where the injured person's own want of care contributed to the injury. The reduction is a percentage the court fixes on the evidence. The courts have applied it to a passenger not wearing a seat belt where the belt would have lessened the injury, to a pedestrian who stepped out where a driver could not have stopped, and to a cyclist's lights or position. It does not apply to how the vehicles collided where you had no part in that.

The Board does not decide contributory negligence. Section 20 of the 2003 Act has the Board assess on the assumption that the respondent is fully liable. If a respondent wants a reduction, it can decline to consent, or reject the assessment, and an Authorisation lets the claim go to a court, where the point is argued. The assessment guide covers how the Board reaches its figure, and the rejection guide what a contested case means.

The Gardaí

Section 106 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 places the duty to stop, give details and report on the driver. As a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist you have no duty, but the Garda record is the record everyone asks for: the other driver's insurer, your own, the Board's form (which asks whether the Gardaí were told) and, where the driver was uninsured or untraced, the MIBI, which expects a report within two days where possible. If no Garda attended, report at any station as soon as you can and keep the station name, the Garda's name and the reference. The Garda report guide explains the abstract and what it does and does not prove.

The doctor, the letter and the Board

See a doctor on the day or the day after, even for an injury that seems minor, because the Board's assessment is made on the Medical Assessment Form (Form B) completed by the treating doctor, and the first record is the one everyone reads. The medical report guide covers what the doctor is asked.

Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 asks for a written notice stating the nature of the wrong, served on the wrongdoer within one month. For a passenger that means each driver you say is responsible; the one-month letter guide explains the consequences of serving it late.

Then the Board. Nearly every personal injury claim must go to the Injuries Resolution Board before court under section 12 of the 2003 Act. The Board's making a claim page has the form; the fee is €45 online or €90 by post; a solicitor is not required and the Board says so. The Board, start to finish sets out the steps and the periods.

What the figures say and do not say

The Board and the courts assess general damages with regard to the Personal Injuries Guidelines, by the injury and its recovery period. The Guidelines do not have a passenger bracket or a pedestrian bracket: a neck injury is a neck injury whoever was sitting where. The Guidelines guide explains the structure, and the injury checker shows the Guidelines' bracket for an injury described like yours.

The Board's median motor award for July to December 2025 was €12,850, from €12,510 a year earlier; across all claims the 2025 median was €14,020. These are the Board's figures, dated, on the figures register. They say what half of the Board's awards were above and below. They say nothing about any one claim.

Where this leaves you

The first week decides most of what the record will later show. The first-week checklist builds the list for a passenger, a pedestrian or a cyclist: the Gardaí, the doctor, the drivers' details, the photographs and the one-month letter, in the order they fall due.