Vehicle Owner Responsibilities and Potential Liabilities

There are certain cases in which the owner of a vehicle may be liable for someone else’s use of his vehicle. 

Negligent Entrustment

An owner may be held liable for negligently entrusting his vehicle to another. The central requirement is that the owner who gives permission to use his vehicle knows that the driver is incompetent to operate it. Thus, an owner who gives per­mission to an obviously intoxicated person to use his vehicle will be liable for the driver’s actions. Applying the same rule, a car rental company will be liable for an accident caused by a driver known by the company to be unlicensed.

Employer’s Liability

An employer who provides a vehicle to an employee to perform his job duties or to run a special errand, will be held liable for that employee’s actions. This liability is based on the doctrine of respondeat superior.

Family Purpose Doctrine

The head of a family who provides a vehicle to a child, regardless of age, may be liable for the child’s operation of that vehicle. This is known as the family purpose doctrine. The doctrine applies even if the use of the vehicle is for the child’s own pleasure or business. A parent will be deemed to have furnished a vehicle to the child if he physically provides the vehicle, or if he provides the financial resources for the child to purchase the vehicle.

Unlicensed Minor

An owner of a vehicle who knowingly permits an unli­censed minor to drive his vehicle is liable with the minor for damages caused by the minor’s negligence or willful miscon­duct while driving the vehicle. This also applies to a person who gives or furnishes a vehicle to an unlicensed minor, even if the person does not own the vehicle.