Normally, your insurance policy contract assumes that most of the people who would have occasion to drive your car would have your express or implied permission to do so. In such instances, the other driver would almost always be covered in the event of an accident.

An example of express permission to drive your vehicle would be if a friend asks to borrow the car because his vehicle is in the shop. When you hand over the keys, you very explicitly give permission for that person to drive your car. An extreme example of implied permission would be a friend or family member driving you or someone else in the family to the hospital in an emergency.

There are some auto insurance policies though that have certain exclusions that would allow the insurer to not cover an accident. This could be a certain person being excluded or a group of people, say those below the age of 25. In addition, typically people living in your household must be listed and not excluded on your policy in order to be covered while driving your vehicle.

Before going on your road trip read through your insurance policy and discuss this issue with your insurance agent so you will know for certain if you can allow others to driver your car and have your insurance coverages extend to them.

It is never a good idea to drive while tired, read our article on this subject titled Driving While Drowsy.