If a person lets someone else drive their vehicle and that person causes a Houston, TX car wreck and injuries, the person who owned the car could be financially liable for the costs of the accident even if they weren’t in the car at the time. This is called “negligent entrustment.” And our Houston car crash injury attorneys suggest that you should consider its ramifications before entrusting your vehicle to a ne’er do well friend, exuberant teenager, unlicensed driver, or other potential liability issue.
As an example, on Wednesday morning in Houston on W. Bellfort near S, Gessner, a driver entrusted with a vehicle crashed through the window of a blood plasma center in SW Houston. The car owner was waiting there inside to give blood at the time. Apparently the car owner’s friend had taken a trip to the store, returned, and was trying to park the vehicle again in front of the center when she stepped on the accelerator pedal instead of the brake. Two people were hospitalized with injuries from the crash. The car owner/blood donor’s children were in the car at the time and evidently shaken by the experience. (Malini Basu, KHOU, 2/5/14)
The car owner indicated she didn’t leave her friend behind the wheel, and didn’t expect her to drive. Nonetheless, one must consider when entrusting a car and one’s children to an adult, whether properly licensed or not, that the adult may choose to drive.
When you exit a vehicle, take your keys with you. Given that current weather is such that people may not want to wait outside in a car that’s not running, have them wait inside with you. Blood plasma donation centers generally have waiting rooms just for such purpose. And to leave a friend who might choose to drive in one’s car with the keys and one’s children when other alternatives are available could well be considered reckless and an incident of negligent entrustment.
Contact the Houston car crash injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC to learn more about your available legal options and potential eligibility for a full financial recovery of you’ve been injured by a driver negligently entrusted with a vehicle. We’re available at 713-907-9500. Or schedule your free initial legal consultation by filling out our simple online contact form.