A guest statute is a term used in the law of torts to describe a statute that makes it more difficult for a passenger in an automobile to recover damages from the driver for injuries received in an accident resulting from ordinary negligence on the part of the driver. Instead, passengers are limited to suits based on gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. The statute may also place a cap on the damages to be awarded, or limit damages to compensation for actual physical injuries. Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Manufacturers are reponsible for adequately warning consumers of possibly dangerous products. ...

The purpose of the guest statute is to both protect drivers from frivolous litigation, and to protect insurance companies from collusive and fraudulent suits (wherein the passenger sues the driver in order to collect from the driver's insurer). For the same reason, some states also passed aviation guest statutes, which limit the liability of non-commercial airplane passengers. However guest statutes of all types have now been abolished in most states, either legislatively or by the courts. A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ...

• Legal Issues in Accidents and the Status of Passengers