is a vehicle driver responsible for passenger behavior?

[off2ride]

No. He or she is not the aggressor.

[peterw_diy]

Accessory? Abetting?

[PotomacCyclist]

Maybe conspiracy, if the two agreed that one of them would attack you. But it would be very difficult to prove, without an admission from the driver or testimony from the passenger. Or a recording of the two discussing the plan.

In any case, the video would make it easier to track down the passenger. The police can talk to the driver and find out who the passenger was. This will also make the driver a bit nervous, being questioned by the police. That would be appropriate in a case like this, where a crime was committed.

EDIT – Police questioning will make both the driver and the passenger hesitant about trying to attack a cyclist (or pedestrian or any other innocent bystander) again, unless the driver and passenger are truly sociopathic.

[Tim Kelley]

I was involved in a similar sounding case a few years back in southern MD in which a object was thrown from the passenger window and hit someone I was riding with. I don’t actually recall if it was the driver or the passenger who ended up getting charged.

[mstone]

The driver wouldn’t have a basis for refusing to identify the passenger.

[Author]

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