Daytona Beach Injury Lawyer Blog

Everyone knows that if you are driving a motor vehicle and cause an accident and someone suffers injuries, you and/or your insurance company are responsible for compensating the injured person for his damages. What you may not know is that if someone else is driving a vehicle you own and injures someone, you are also responsible. In Florida, a motor vehicle is considered to be a "dangerous instrumentality". Florida Courts have long held that a person who authorizes and permits a motor vehicle to be used by another person is liable for any damages caused by the negligent operation by the driver. This is often referred to as the "dangerous instrumentality doctrine."

There are exceptions to the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. There are circumstances when a car is loaned to another and that person may be deemed to have breached the owner's trust, resulting in a theft. These circumstances are rare and often times difficult to prove. However, when an owner does not truly give his consent to operate his or her vehicle, the owner should not be held liable. The courts have generally held that the owner of a vehicle is not responsible for the actions of servicemen and repairmen when his vehicle is being serviced, tested or repaired. Finally, an owner may not be held for intentional misconduct by another driver unless that intentional misconduct was foreseeable.

Next time you loan your car to someone else, keep in mind that if they injure someone while on the road, you may be responsible for their actions.

Continue reading "You May Be Responsible For The Actions Of Others When You Loan Your Vehicle" »

Bullying is an epidemic in the United States. According to the Youth Violence Resource Prevention Center, nearly 30% of children in this country are involved in bullying as a bully, a target of bullying or both. This amounts to nearly 5.7 million children.

I am often contacted by parents whose children are the victims of bullying by other children. They are usually seeking compensation after the bullying turned violent and resulted in the child sustaining injuries. As you can expect, the bully almost always has little or no assets or means to satisfy a judgment. To many, the next logical step would seem to file a lawsuit against the bully's parents. Unfortunately, many times filing a lawsuit against the bully's parents proves unsuccessful.

Generally speaking, parents are not financially responsible for injuries their children cause merely because of paternity. However, there are four exceptions to this general rule:

1. Where the parent entrusts the child with an instrumentality which, because of the child's lack of age, judgment, or experience, may become a source of danger to others. These "instrumentalities" can include things like motor vehicles or weapons.

2. Where the child committing the tort is acting as the servant or agent of its parents.

3. Where the parent consents, directs, or sanctions the wrongdoing.

4. The parent fails to exercise control over the minor child although the parent knows or with due care should know that injury to another is possible. This exception often hinges on prior communications between the bully and their parent(s) and/or prior bullying that the parents are aware of.

If you have a child who is being bullied, take a look around http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/, which is helpful website provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Continue reading "When is a Parent Responsible for a Child's Bullying?" »