Opinion ID: 374896
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Vicarious Liability Issue

Text: 13 There remains a question whether, regardless of the release, the claim against the Sorensen interests must be dismissed because it is solely vicarious based on mere ownership rather than based on respondeat superior as Pennsylvania law requires. As we noted, New York law, N.Y.Veh. & Traf.Law § 388, does provide for purely vicarious liability. 14 We do not think that New York's interest analysis leads inevitably to the proposition that a New York forum court would look to the law of the victim's place of domicile (Pennsylvania) to determine the liability of the owner of the negligent vehicle. To the contrary, New York would seem to have the greater interest in determining who is liable for accidents taking place within its borders. The New York statutory policy extending liability beyond its original respondeat superior limits alone speaks strongly to this. One major purpose of this change was to help ensure that innocent accident victims would have a solvent defendant from whom to recover. See Continental Auto Lease Corp. v. Campbell, 19 N.Y.2d 350, 280 N.Y.S.2d 123, 227 N.E.2d 28 (1967) (dictum). But in addition, New York sought to discourage owners from lending or leasing vehicles to irresponsible drivers; it has pursued that goal by imposing liability irrespective of agency or employment. See White v. Smith, 398 F.Supp. 130, 136 (D.N.J.1975); Aarons v. Standard Varnish Works, 163 Misc. 84, 296 N.Y.S. 312, aff'd, 254 App.Div. 560, 3 N.Y.S.2d 910 (1937). 15 When we compare Pennsylvania's interest in the vicarious liability issue with that of New York, it becomes clear that Pennsylvania's interest is relatively minimal. If Pennsylvania law applies, the beneficiary represented by appellant, a citizen of that state, may suffer a substantial financial loss since the Sorensen interests will not be liable. New York, on the other hand, has a real interest in deterring loans and leases of vehicles to irresponsible drivers using New York roads, a local interest that is quite similar to a state's interest in the standard of care applied to accidents within its borders. See Babcock v. Jackson, supra, 240 N.Y.S.2d at 750-51, 191 N.E.2d at 284-85 (dictum) (negligence principles of state where accident occurred should apply). 14 Thus we believe that the Sorensen interests may be held vicariously liable and that they stand in essentially the same position for our purposes as does Willie Thomas, the tractor owner and full-time employer of the driver Hnatvik. 16 Judgment reversed and remanded.