Opinion ID: 1953032
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: horne

Text: In Horne, an automobile dealer was sued for negligent entrustment after the purchaser, observed by the dealer's agent to be an erratic driver, drove away from the dealership after purchasing the vehicle and promptly ran into another car. Horne, 533 So.2d at 261. The trial court entered judgment for the injured occupant of the other car, but the Third District reversed and certified the following question to this Court: SHOULD FLORIDA ADOPT SECTION 390 OF THE RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF THE LAW OF TORTS, AND, IF SO, SHOULD THE SECTION BE CONSTRUED SO AS TO EXTEND LIABILITY TO A SELLER OF A CHATTEL AS WELL? Id. We declined to answer the certified question, however, and narrowed our analysis and resolution to the facts of the case. We reworded the question as follows: IS A SELLER OF AN AUTOMOBILE NEGLIGENT UNDER SECTION 390 OF RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS (1966) WHEN IT KNOWINGLY SELLS A CAR TO A DRIVER WHO, AFTER DEMONSTRATING DRIVING INCOMPETENCE, NEVERTHELESS INTENDS TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE? Id. at 261 n. 1. At the time of the incident in Horne, a Florida statute specifically precluded the imposition of civil liability on an automobile seller after a bona fide transfer of the vehicle. § 319.22(2), Fla. Stat. (1981). Thus, we concluded in Horne that we could not hold an automobile seller responsible given the legislature's clear intent to bar any liability in section 319.22(2). 533 So.2d at 263. [2] Because the certified question addressed in Horne was narrowed and limited to the facts of the case, this Court specifically did not address the broader question of the application of section 390 in Florida.