Summary
holding that evidence of car rental company's violation of internal policy regarding minimum age of renters could not sustain claim for negligent entrustment
Summary of this case from Amparan v. Lake Powell Car Rental Cos.Opinion
No. 98-00464.
November 18, 1998. Rehearing Denied December 4, 1998.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Lee County, R. Wallace Pack, J.
Lawrence B. Friedman and Steven H. Osber of The Friedman Law Firm, P.A., Boca Raton, for Appellants.
Gerald W. Pierce of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes Holt, P.A., Fort Myers, for Appellee.
The Appellants, plaintiffs below, appeal the denial of their motions to file amended complaints to state a cause of action against The Hertz Corporation based on its decision to rent a car to a driver under the age of twenty-five years, contrary to the corporation's policy establishing twenty-five as the driver's minimum age. We agree with the reasoning of the Oregon Court of Appeals when it held, "If a 16-year-old can lawfully drive a car, a person may entrust a car to a driver who is that age or older without being negligent. . . . Without more, an allegation that a person entrusted a car to a person who is under 25 cannot state a claim for negligent entrustment." Mathews v. Federated Svc. Ins. Co., 122 Or.App. 124, 857 P.2d 852, 858 (Or.App. 1993). Therefore, Appellants' proposed amended complaints did not state a cause of action.
Because the amendment would have been County, R. Wallace Pack, J., denied plaintiffs' futile, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend. Accordingly, we affirm.
Affirmed.
BLUE, A.C.J., and FULMER and WHATLEY, JJ., Concur.