If you’ve done any form of paralegal work in the personal injury field, you’ve more than likely heard the term “negligent entrustment” or pled a negligent entrustment claim in your Complaint against a Defendant. Negligent entrustment, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the entrusting of a dangerous article (as a motor vehicle) to one who is reckless or too inexperienced or incompetent to use it safely”. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the crash, your attorney may recommend that you include negligent entrustment.

Often times, negligent entrustment cases will involve owners who loan their vehicles to underage and unlicensed drivers, intoxicated drivers, elderly drivers, drivers with certain physical or mental impairments or illnesses, or drivers with a known history of recklessness. By statute (O.C.G.A. § 40-5-122), a person in Georgia is prohibited from knowingly entrusting a vehicle to a driver who does not possess a valid driver’s license.

Under Georgia law, in order to show negligent entrustment, you must prove four elements:

(1) that the person accused of negligently “entrusting” a vehicle to an unsafe or incompetent driver either owned or had control over that vehicle;

(2) that the driver to whom the automobile was entrusted was incompetent and unfit to drive the vehicle safely;

(3) that the defendant had actual knowledge that the person to whom he entrusted his vehicle was incompetent, unfit or incapable of safely driving the vehicle; and

(4) that the incompetent driver proximately caused the collision in which the plaintiff was injured or his family member was killed.

*It is always best to refer your state’s statutes or codes regarding negligent entrustment when deciding whether or not to file lawsuit against a driver.*