The tort of negligent entrustment in simple language means that you were negligent by allowing a person or persons to use your property such as a car, motorcycle, etc.
Negligence is a legal term of art. It would be very difficult to explain negligence to a non-attorney. However I will try.
Negligence in simple language, is that one person owes a duty of due care to another person, and breaches that duty of due care thus causing damages. The key to negligence is that it must be reasonably foreseeable to an ordinary prudent person that the conduct will result in damages. I will be frank, negligence is much more complicated than the description I just gave, however it will suffice for the purposes of this article.
An example of simple negligence would be one person not paying attention and rear ending another person in their car. The person who did the rear ending would be liable in most circumstances for negligence.
With respect to negligent entrustment, I will give you an example of where you could be held liable for this tort. Let’s say you loan your car to a person who has a suspended driver’s license. Let’s say this person subsequently gets into a car accident. You would most likely be held liable for the damages caused in the accident, because you owed a duty of due care to ensure that you did not loan your car to a person with a suspended driver’s license. In other words, you were negligent by allowing a person with a suspended drivers license to use your car.
Another example would be loaning your car to a person who was obviously intoxicated, who then subsequently gets into an accident. You can be held liable for negligent entrustment for loaning you car to a drunk.
There is a vast array of possible scenarios in which you could be liable for the tort of negligent entrustment. It’s not rocket science, it’s really about common sense. The purpose of this article is just to make you aware of the tort.
Basically it’s a matter of common sense. If you are going to loan a person your car, motorcycle, or other property, you better make sure they have a driver’s license and automobile insurance before you give them the keys unless you’re not concerned about being legally liable for their actions.
By Norman Gregory Fernandez, ESQ. , Copyright 2006
