NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT. $______ VERDICT. Negligent entrustment - Motor vehicle negligence - Plaintiff contends defendant left key in her vehicle allowing it to be stolen and subsequently involved in collision with plaintiff's vehicle - Left tibia and fibula fractures - Surgery and placement of hardware for tibia.

• Pages: 18-19

Broward County, FL

In this motor vehicle negligence case, the plaintiff

asserted that the defendant driver of a

commercial tractor-trailer truck owned by the

defendant trucking company struck the rear of the

plaintiff’s vehicle with such force that it caused

significant, permanent injury. The defendants

admitted liability but contested the plaintiff’s

damages.

On March 7, 2019, the plaintiff was traveling on I-95

northbound in Pompano Beach. The defendant was

driving a tractor-trailer truck in the scope of his employ-

ment with the defendant trucking company and was

traveling behind the plaintiff’s vehicle on I-95. The plaintiff

contended that the defendant negligently operated the

truck and created a foreseeable zone of risk of harm

such that the defendants’ truck collided with the rear of

the plaintiff’s vehicle.

The plaintiff alleged that the force of the impact resulted

in permanent injuries. As a result of the collision, the

plaintiff sustained cervical disc herniations; headaches;

anxiety and depression. The plaintiff treated with ortho-

pedic and chiropractic treatment and asserted the

need for future cervical surgery.

The defendants argued that the plaintiff was not injured

in the subject collision. The defendants presented the

testimony of a biometrics expert as to the forces in-

volved in the subject collision and that the forces ex-

erted were not significant enough to have caused

substantial injury. The defendants also presented photos

of the minor damage to the plaintiff’s vehicle and the

lack of airbag deployment as evidence of the low-

speed of the collision and its minimal impact.

The jury found no cause of action and returned a verdict

in favor of the defendant.

REFERENCE

Blugrind vs. McGarvey Trucking, LLC, et al. Case no.

CACE20014168; Judge Jeffrey Levenson, 11-03-22.

Attorney for plaintiff: Ron Vinograd of Steinger,

Greene & Feiner in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Attorneys for

defendant: Bruce Trybus and Lourdes M. Calzadilla

of Cooney Trybus Kwavnick Peets in Fort Lauderdale,

FL.

NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT

$311,198 VERDICT

Negligent entrustment – Motor vehicle negligence

– Plaintiff contends defendant left key in her

vehicle allowing it to be stolen and subsequently

involved in collision with plaintiff’s vehicle – Left

tibia and fibula fractures – Surgery and placement

of hardware for tibia.

Broward County, FL

In this negligent entrustment case, the plaintiff

asserted that the defendant vehicle owner was

negligent in making the key fob to her vehicle

accessible to an unidentified driver which allowed

the unidentified driver to operate the vehicle and

cause the subject accident wherein the plaintiff

was significantly and permanently injured. The

defendant denied negligence and asserted that

she typically always locked her car.

On January 14, 2016, the plaintiff was traveling north-

bound on Powerline Road in Pompano Beach. An un-

identified driver, who was operating the defendant’s

vehicle, ran a red light and struck the plaintiff’s vehicle,

then fled the scene on foot. The day before, the defen-

dant vehicle owner had driven to the home of her

coworker where she stopped to use the restroom. When

she tried to drive home, her vehicle would not start. The

defendant’s mother picked her up and drove her

home. She left the vehicle because it would not start.

The following day, the co-worker called and asked if the

defendant had picked up the car because it was no

longer at his home. The vehicle was subsequently in-

volved in the collision with the plaintiff wherein she was

permanently injured.

As a result of the collision, the plaintiff sustained fractures

of the left tibia and fibula. The plaintiff underwent surgery

and placement of hardware for tibia fracture but fibula

fracture never properly healed. The plaintiff claimed on-

going pain and limitations in range of movement.

The plaintiff argued that the defendant negligently failed

to secure the vehicle and left a spare key in the glove

compartment, effectively making it foreseeable that the

vehicle could easily be stolen. The plaintiff pointed to

the fact that the windows on the car were intact and the

steering column showed no evidence of “hot-wiring” as

indicative that the vehicle had not been broken into

and that the thief had not forced the vehicle to start

without a key. The plaintiff cited Florida Supreme Court

decisions that hold that the owner of an automobile

who leaves it unlocked with the key inside is liable for the

conduct of a thief who steals the car and subsequently

injures someone while negligently operating the stolen

vehicle, citing Schwartz v. American Home Assurance

Company, 360 So.2d 383 (Fla. 1978).

The defendant reported the car stolen to 2 police de-

partments, and there was no evidence that the vehicle

was unlocked at the time that it was stolen or that the

key from the glove compartment was used to operate

the vehicle. The defendant argued that it is well-estab-

lished common law rule that a person has no legal duty

Volume 33, Issue 3, March 2023

18

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