Transportation Law Commons^™

Automobile Guest Statutes- Infants Under Fourteen Years Of Age Held Incapable Of Accepting Guest Status

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia's guest statute is a legislative codification of the common law gross negligence rule made applicable to automobile guests. The purpose of this statute is to protect the gratuitous host from a lawsuit at the hands of the very person to whom he is extending the gratuity, and to prevent collusion between the host and his guest against insurers. The increasing popu- larity of automobile travel has prompted over half of the states to adopt similar legislation, but unfortunately, these statutes have produced what has been appropriately called a "tangle of confusion."