Opinion ID: 1832520
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: vicarious liability of parents for their children's torts

Text: Petitioners admit that no prior case in Florida has extended the dangerous instrumentality doctrine to hold a parent liable for a child's negligent operation of a motor vehicle where the vehicle was not titled in the parent's name and where there was no indication that the parent was the intended owner of the vehicle. In fact, in a case with similar factual circumstances to Aurbach, the Third District rejected such an extension of the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. See Wilsen v. Lesser, 434 So.2d 1033 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). In Wilsen, the father purchased a vehicle for his eighteen-year-old daughter, who resided with her parents. See id. at 1033. The motor vehicle was titled in the daughter's name. A friend of the daughter's negligently drove the vehicle and crashed into plaintiff's vehicle. See id. The plaintiff brought suit against the daughter's father on the theory that he bought the automobile for his daughter, who resided at home with her parents, and that he exercised some control over its operation. Id. The Third District upheld the granting of a summary judgment in favor of the father, concluding there was no genuine issue of material fact on the issue of vicarious liability. See id. Although no further facts are set forth in the opinion, the Third District's opinion, like the Fourth District's opinion in Aurbach, holds as a matter of law that the fact that a parent buys a motor vehicle for a child who resides at home and exercises some control over the operation of the motor vehicle is insufficient by itself to impose vicarious liability under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. See Wilsen, 434 So.2d at 1033. Further, under existing Florida statutory law, there is only one instance where a parent can be held vicariously liable for his or her child's negligent operation of a motor vehicle absent an identifiable property interest in the vehicle, such as ownership, rental, lease, conditional sale or bailment. Pursuant to section 322.09(2), Florida Statutes (1997), the parent who signs the driver's license application for a minor child can be held vicariously liable for the child's negligent operation of a motor vehicle. This responsibility ends, however, when the child reaches the age of majority. See id.