jkbonsai said:
I have a friend that is being sued because his daughter of 20yrs took his car while he was at dinner. she proceeded to go out and party with her friends in which alchol was injusted. she took a couple of her buddys to another party and on there way they crashed. she and her buddy expired by crashing into a wall. the parents of her buddy are sueing him for wrongful death because he owned the car. this is in calif. what might he expect?
My response:
An owner of an automobile may be independently negligent in entrusting an automobile to an incompetent driver. Under the common-law theory of negligent entrustment, liability is imposed on a vehicle owner or permitter because of his or her own independent negligence—not the negligence of the driver. Such liability is imposed if the plaintiff can prove that the injury or death resulting from the entrustment was proximately caused by the driver’s incompetence. [Allen v Toledo (1980, 4th Dist) 109 Cal App 3d 415, 167 Cal Rptr 270]
Liability for negligent entrustment does not depend on any special relationship between the donor and the donee or the victim, nor does it depend on whether the vehicle is conveyed or merely loaned. Rather, the imposition of liability is based on a consideration of all factors in determining where to impose liability for negligence, paramount among them being the foreseeability of injury. [Talbott v Csakany (1988, 4th Dist) 199 Cal App 3d 700, 245 Cal Rptr 136] Thus, liability in the negligent entrustment case is determined by applying general principles of negligence. [Allen v Toledo (1980, 4th Dist) 109 Cal App 3d 415, 167 Cal Rptr 270]
In order to impose liability for negligent entrustment, the lending owner must know, or from facts known to him or her should have known, that the entrusted driver was intoxicated, incompetent, or reckless. [Hartford Acci. & Indem. Co. v Abdullah (1979, 2nd Dist) 94 Cal App 3d 81, 156 Cal Rptr 254] Mere knowledge that a driver is inexperienced will not make an owner liable for negligent entrustment; inexperience does not necessarily indicate incompetency. [Krawitz v Rusch (1989, 4th Dist) 209 Cal App 3d 957, 257 Cal Rptr 610] In addition, a vehicle owner who negligently entrusts his or her vehicle to another with knowledge that the vehicle is defective may be held liable even in the absence of negligent conduct on the part of the driver. [Syah v Johnson (1966, 4th Dist) 247 Cal App 2d 534, 55 Cal Rptr 741]
The liability of an owner is limited to $15,000 for the death or injury to one person in any one accident. Subject to the limit as to one person, the owner’s liability is limited to $30,000 for the death of or injury to more than one person in any one accident. The owner’s liability with respect to property damage is limited to $5,000 in any one accident. However, the limits on liability do not apply when the liability of the owner arises out of an agency or employment relationship. [Veh C §17151(a)]
An injured person cannot recover punitive damages from a nonoperator-owner, except when punitive damages are sought on the basis of the owner’s rather than the operator’s wrongful conduct. [See Veh C §17151(b)]
IAAL
