What points ought to automotive rental corporations comply with within the coming yr, and what authorized updates are related to the business? The next is a quick recap of current court docket instances involving rental corporations, together with authorized points to look at in 2023 and past.

Operational Reminders from Latest Instances

Significance of Qualifying Extra Approved Drivers

Two current instances tackle the significance of qualifying an extra driver, not simply the first renter. The primary is an unpublished ruling from the West Virginia Supreme Court docket of Appeals. In that case, an extra driver was added to the rental eight days after the preliminary rental and at a special location from the place the rental began. The rental firm worker accomplished a driver’s license inspection and allowed the extra driver to swap autos (the unique automotive had transmission points). The subsequent day, the extra driver brought about an accident, which resulted in a fatality and critical accidents to 3rd events. Find that there was no negligent entrustment, the court docket famous that the rental worker requested and reviewed the motive force’s license and didn’t observe any indicators of impairment or intoxication.

In a California Court docket of Enchantment case, a renter was accompanied by the extra driver on the time of the rental. The extra driver introduced a facially legitimate license from one other nation. The rental firm saved a file of the license quantity, expiration date, and issuing jurisdiction. The extra driver was concerned in an accident shortly after the rental, and the injured third events sued the rental firm alleging negligent entrustment. The plaintiff argued that the corporate was negligent by asserting it had not complied with California legislation concerning driver’s license inspections. Primarily based on the corporate’s rental data, the Court docket of Enchantment discovered that the rental firm had complied with its obligations of inspecting the extra driver’s license. The court docket additionally rejected an argument by the plaintiff that the rental firm had an obligation to research whether or not the motive force was really a resident of a international jurisdiction on the time of the rental.

These are essential reminders of the necessity to qualify further drivers and keep rental data confirming compliance.

Claims Concerning Fatigued Renters

There have been a number of current instances by which plaintiffs allege negligent entrustment primarily based on claims that the rental firm allowed a fatigued driver to make use of a car. The West Virginia case mentioned above concerned such an argument. The plaintiffs asserted that as a result of the unique rental car had been pushed 1000’s of miles between March 13 and March 21 when the car was swapped for a substitute, the motive force should have been overly fatigued and that contributed to the accident the subsequent day. The rental worker said he didn’t observe any indicators of fatigue. The court docket rejected the testimony of a sleep skilled who mentioned that somebody who drove a considerable distance in eight days can be fatigued. The skilled didn’t declare an observer would (or ought to) know that such a driver wouldn’t be competent to drive safely. The court docket discovered that there was no proof the motive force appeared incompetent. 

A California trial court docket reached an analogous conclusion in a case the place a passenger in van pool car claimed the van pool operator shouldn’t have permitted one of many van pool members to be a licensed driver. The passenger was injured when the motive force dozed off on the commute residence. The court docket rejected an argument by the plaintiff that the rental firm had an obligation to observe the motive force in the course of the interval the car was utilized by the carpool members. Data that the motive force had been initially certified had been vital to the case.     

Claims Concerning Renter’s Driving Expertise, Overseas Language, and Driver’s License Inspection

The Colorado Federal District Court docket not too long ago discovered that an RV rental firm didn’t have an obligation to require renters to have prior RV driving expertise or to verify {that a} international renter may learn and comply with English highway indicators. In keeping with the court docket, the “purpose to know” normal for locating negligent entrustment doesn’t create an obligation to hunt unknown details on the time of rental, comparable to inquiring a few driver’s expertise or English language abilities.

The court docket additionally discovered that an alleged violation of the Colorado driver’s license inspection statute didn’t represent negligent entrustment since inspection of a driver’s license wouldn’t give the rental firm purpose to know that the renter was more likely to hurt others. The court docket famous, nonetheless, that if the plaintiff had alleged that violation of the motive force’s license inspection statute was negligence per se (slightly than negligent entrustment), the result might need been completely different.  That remark is a reminder of the significance of checking the motive force’s license of all approved drivers and sustaining data.

Different Creating Points

A number of different points to look at in 2023 and past embrace:

• Privateness legal guidelines and telematics – Telematics expertise continues to advance and offers rental operators highly effective instruments for monitoring autos and enhancing buyer expertise. Earlier than utilizing telematics techniques, rental operators ought to seek the advice of with privateness counsel to find out the dos and don’ts beneath growing privateness legal guidelines. That is particularly essential in view of current legislative exercise concerning privateness.
• Monitoring driver habits – Earlier than monitoring driver habits, comparable to velocity and onerous braking, operators ought to overview privateness points and set up insurance policies to be used of data.   
• Safeguarding buyer private data collected by the car – Rental operators should make sure that they comply with the identical ideas for safeguarding and defending all buyer private data – whether or not it’s collected by the rental contract or by the car.
•  Full and correct disclosures for non-compulsory product gross sales – The brand new yr is an effective time to overview web sites and rental agreements to make sure that non-compulsory product disclosures are full, correct, and adjust to relevant legislation necessities.

Leslie Pujo is an legal professional and accomplice at Plave Koch LLC, and Wesley Hurst is an legal professional and senior accomplice at Polsinelli.