2. OCGA § 40-9-102 imposes upon the car rental agency the duty to verify that the renter has insurance for the rental, and if not, mandates the purchase of "spot" liability insurance prior to furnishing the vehicle. Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995). The rental is to be insured, through either the renter's own vehicle insurance policy if it would cover the rental situation or by the purchase of insurance coverage for the rental vehicle from the rental agency. Atlanta Rent-A-Car v. Jackson, 204 Ga. App. 448 ( 419 S.E.2d 489) (1992).
Thus, where the rental car has injured plaintiffs, the rental car company's "failure to comply with OCGA § 40-9-102 was not the cause of any harm to plaintiffs." Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 661 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995); see Rabinovitz v. Accent Rent-A-Car, Inc., 213 Ga. App. 786, 786-787 ( 446 S.E.2d 244) (1994) (physical precedent only). The purpose of the statute "is not specifically to prevent tortious acts by the operators of rental vehicles, but rather to assure that such operators are not uninsured."
Because Belford's negligent entrustment claim against Marie Hunsucker is necessarily premised on negligence by the driver to whom she entrusted her car, we also reverse the denial of summary judgment as to Marie Hunsucker.Judgment reversed. Andrews, P.J., and Ellington, J., concur. See Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 ( 455 SE2d 366) (1995) ("to recover under this theory, an owner's negligence must concur, as part of the proximate cause, with the negligent conduct of the driver on account of his incompetency and recklessness") (punctuation omitted; emphasis supplied). DOYLE, Judge.
"Liability for negligent entrustment flows from the negligent act of the owner permitting another to drive [his] vehicle when the owner knows the driver to be either incompetent or habitually reckless." Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995).Judgments reversed.
" (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995).
(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 661 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995). The purpose of the statute is to assure that lessees of rental vehicles are not uninsured.
' [Cit.]" Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 ( 455 S.E.2d 366) (1995). Because there is no allegation nor evidence that Brown was in a master-servant or agency relationship with Coppage, she was properly granted summary judgment.
Jones v. Aldrich Co., 188 Ga. App. 581, 583 (1988) (citing Lewis v. Miller Peanut Co., 77 Ga. App. 380, 383 (1948)); Shmunes v. Gen. Motors Corp., 146 Ga. App. 486, 487 (1978) ( "Issues of fact as to ownership, if any, are not genuine issues of material fact that would preclude summary judgment . . . [o]wnership of the vehicle alone is insufficient to establish liability on the part of the owner"). Collins v. Hamilton, 259 Ga. App. 52, 53 (2002) ( "The amended complaint shows only that [defendant] was the owner and the insured of the car involved in the collision in which [plaintiff] was injured . . . [b]ut even accepting the complaint as true, [defendant's] ownership of the car, in and of itself, is insufficient to establish his liability for [plaintiff's] injuries"); Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Hamilton, 216 Ga. App. 659, 660 (1995) (mere ownership of motor vehicle that is involved in collision is not sufficient to impose liability on owner for negligent operation of vehicle without showing owner was guilty of some other negligent act or "a master-servant or agency relationship" that proximately caused injury to plaintiff); Frank E. Jenkins III & Wallace Miller III, Ga. Automobile Ins. Law § 47:8 (2019-2020 ed.). Thus, the Court need not reach the issue of ownership of the Dodge Ram.
Georgia courts have found that when a rental car has injured plaintiffs, the rental car company's "failure to comply with OCGA § 40-9-102 was not the cause of any harm to plaintiff[s]." Scott v. Joe Thomson Auto Rental & Leasing, Inc., 453 S.E.2d 475, 477 (Ga. 2002) (quoting Alamo Rent-A-Car v. Hamilton, 455 S.E.2d 366 (Ga. 1995)). --------
1. State Law This case is on all fours with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Hamilton, 216 Ga.App. 659 (1995). In Alamo, a woman was injured by the drunk driver of an Alamo rental car.