Imagine that you were involved in a car accident in Lincoln. You will likely take some comfort in the assumption that the responsible party (and/or their insurance company) will cover your accident expenses. That comfort might soon vanish, however, if you learn that the driver that hit you was using another person’s car.
Now imagine you learn that the driver had a history of careless or reckless behavior. Why would someone allow such a driver access to a vehicle? That is exactly the question that those in your situation ask us here at McHenry Haszard Law.
While we may not able to provide you with the why, you will be happy to learn that there may be legal recourse for you to hold the vehicle owner responsible for the damages the driver caused. The principle of negligent entrustment allows you to assign vicarious liability to vehicle owners when others cause accidents with their cars. The standard for applying negligent entrustment to car accident cases in Nebraska has been set by the state’s courts.
Here, the court stated that for negligent entrustment to exist, you must prove that a vehicle owner allowed one that they know to be inexperienced, incompetent or reckless (or to have an addiction to alcohol that might likely result in them driving while intoxicated) to use their vehicle, and they should have realized that doing so might endanger others.
One important thing to note here is that the vehicle owner must have knowingly entrusted their car to the driver that hit you in order for you to cite negligent entrustment in your case. You can learn more about assigning liability for car accidents by continuing to explore our site.
