Title: Demshar v. AAACon Auto Transport, Inc.

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

337 So. 2d 963 (1976)
Joseph DEMSHAR, Sr., and Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a Foreign Corporation Doing Business in Florida, Petitioners,
v.
AAACon AUTO TRANSPORT, INC., for the Use and Benefit of Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, a Foreign Corporation Doing Business in Florida, Respondent.
No. 47551.

Supreme Court of Florida.
September 23, 1976.
*964 Frank E. Maloney, Jr., of Fleming, O'Bryan & Fleming, Fort Lauderdale, for petitioners.
Edna L. Caruso of Howell, Kirby, Montgomery, D'Aiuto & Dean, West Palm Beach, for respondent.
SUNDBERG, Justice.
This case is here on petition for writ of certiorari to the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District. We have jurisdiction under Article V, Section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution.
The facts and applicable conclusions of law in this case are well expressed in the opinion of the District Court of Appeal, which we adopt in its entirety:
We agree with the opinion of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, reported at 312 So. 2d 479, and resolve in its favor the conflict between that decision and the Midwest Mutual case, supra.
In addition to making the contentions rejected in the opinion quoted above, petitioners Demshar and Liberty Mutual argue that Snyder was AAACon's agent as a matter of law, and therefore no liability could vicariously attach to Demshar in the first instance under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. The case authority[1] upon which they base this contention is not persuasive, given the facts of this case. The bill of lading signed by Demshar expressly stated that the driver was not to be the auto transport company's agent but an independent contractor. Our view is that AAACon was acting more in the nature of a transportation broker, and therefore this case more nearly resembles King v. Young, 107 So. 2d 751 (Fla.2d DCA 1968), than the cases cited by petitioners. In Petitte and Patrick, footnote 1 supra, the automobile was being operated by a person under the direction and control of the service facility operator. In the instant case, there was evidence only of Snyder's being an independent contractor; hence he was not under the direction or control of AAACon.
The factual setting of this case as recorded in the trial transcript and developed at oral argument in this Court suggests to us that Snyder's use of Demshar's car was permissive, and any result other than to hold the owner and his carrier liable under circumstances such as these would vitiate the dangerous instrumentality doctrine which is thoroughly embedded in the law of this State. See Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 80 Fla. 441, 86 So. 629, 16 A.L.R. 255 (1920); Crenshaw Bros. Produce Co. v. Harper, 142 Fla. 27, 194 So. 353 (1940).
The petition for writ of certiorari is denied, and the judgment of the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, is affirmed.
OVERTON, C.J., and BOYD, ENGLAND and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
[1]  Petitte v. Welch, 167 So. 2d 20 (Fla.3d DCA 1964) (owner of automobile held not responsible for injuries to third party occasioned by negligent operation of automobile by person acting under direction and control of filling station operator to whom owner delivered automobile for service); Patrick v. Faircloth Buick Co., 185 So. 2d 522 (Fla.2d DCA 1966) (owner of automobile held not responsible for injuries to third party occasioned by negligent operation of automobile by employee of service garage acting under direction and control of garage operator to whom owner delivered automobile for service).