The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a Marion County mom can indeed sue her 15-year-old son after he crashed the family car and she suffered a broken arm.

Shawnee Adams was teaching her son -- who had his learner's permit -- how to drive on French Prairie Road, a rural highway a few miles northwest of Woodburn. The teen veered off the highway, tumbled down a 12-foot-embankment and struck a utility pole -- totaling the 2000 Jeep Cherokee.

His 41-year-old mother suffered the break to her upper right arm and a concussion, which was accompanied by ringing in her ears, headaches and trouble thinking and sleeping.

While it might seem heartless to sue one’s own teenage son, lawsuits filed against relatives aren’t uncommon. That’s because family members most often travel in cars together -- and if one relative crashes, the other might find the only way to recover what they consider just compensation is by filing suit, personal injury lawyers say.

In reality, the lawsuit is against the insurance company, which most often will have to pay up. So it’s nothing personal.

“This is a mother who loves her son,” said Brady Mertz, the Salem attorney representing Adams.

Mertz declined to say how much the insurance company -- State Farm -- offered Adams before she filed her lawsuit, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover all she’s been through, Mertz said. In her lawsuit, Adams is seeking $25,000 in medical costs, $25,000 in lost wages and $100,000 for pain and suffering.

In response, State Farm argued she couldn't sue her son because that would be like suing herself -- he is a minor and she is responsible for him.

Marion County Circuit Judge Dennis Graves agreed with the insurance company and threw the case out in September 2014.

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the decision, saying the lawsuit can go forward because she is an injured victim and the law wasn’t designed to prevent her from seeking compensation.

It’s been a long legal journey for Adams. The crash, more than five years ago in January 2012, occurred as she and son Zachary, now 21, were on the way to the his school, St. Paul High.

Mertz, the lawyer, says although the Appeals Court revived the lawsuit, there’s still a battle ahead.

In court papers, the insurance company has argued that Adams was at fault for the 7:50 a.m. crash because she allegedly:

allowed her son to drive too early in the morning when he was sleepy;

was texting instead of watching the road;

grabbed the steering wheel and yelled just before the accident;

entrusted her safety to an untrained driver.

Joe Much, an attorney representing Zachary Adams, said as far as he can tell this is the first time the state Appeals Court has taken up the issue of whether a parent who was injured when her minor child crashed the family car can pursue a lawsuit against him. Much said a decision hasn't been made yet about whether to appeal the case to the Oregon Supreme Court.

The Appeals Court ruling was made by a three-judge panel: Timothy Sercombe, Douglas Tookey and Roger DeHoog.

Read the opinion here.