FRANKEL
v.
FLEMING
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In this negligence case involving a car rental, the Florida Supreme Court held that the doctrine of dangerous instrumentality applies not only to vehicle owners but also to bailees who deliver possession to third parties. The court affirmed a judgment against Frankel, the bailee who rented a motorcar that was driven by another person and caused injury to the appellee.
The doctrine of dangerous instrumentality is not limited to vehicle owners but applies to bailees as well. A bailee who entrusts a vehicle to another person can be held liable for injuries caused by that person's operation of the vehicle, particularly when the person is the bailee's spouse.
“Proof of actual ownership of the vehicle causing injury is not indispensable to recovery, for the misfortune of the injured person should not depend entirely on the repository of the legal title”
Establishes that the dangerous instrumentality doctrine does not require ownership to impose liability
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFrankel rented a motorcar to Isadore Frankel (or acted as a bailee for the vehicle). Teri Hoffman Wellener, who was living with Frankel as his wife at…
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THOMAS, Justice.
The nature of the questions posed by the appellant makes it unnecessary to elaborate on the facts stated in our opinion filed 24 July 1953 in the case of Fleming v. Alter, Fla., 69 So. 2d 185. The present appellee was awarded a verdict against co-partners who had rented a motorcar to Isadore Frankel, against Frankel, and against Teri Hoffman Wellener, who had been living with Frankel as his wife at a Miami Beach hotel and who was driving the car when the appellee was run down, and severely injured. In the other case the court entered a judgment in favor of the defendant notwithstanding the verdict for the plaintiff and we reversed the judgment. Now we are dealing with an appeal from the judgment meanwhile entered against Frankel.
Only one of the questions posed by appellant seems to deserve an answer: “Is the doctrine of dangerous instrumentality limited in scope to the owner thereof rather than to include a bailee [Frankel] for hire who in turn delivers possession to. another person [Wellener]?”
We think the answer to the question may be found in Wilson v. Burke, Fla., 53 So. 2d 319, where we held that an ostensible lessee, a corporation, was responsible for damage caused by the truck it was Operating. Proof of actual ownership of the vehicle causing injury is not indispensable to recovery, for the misfortune of the injured person should not depend entirely ,on the repository of the legal title; nor is recovery dependent upon perfection of title in a given person, Rutherford v. Allen Parker Co., Fla., 67 So. 2d 763, construing Section 319.22(2), Florida Statutes 1951, and F.S.A. Plaving held a lessee liable in the cited case, Wilson v. Burke, supra, we find no difficulty in now holding the appellant, á bailee, responsible in the instant case for injury caused by the one to whom he entrusted the car, especially where, to all intents and purposes, as will be seen by referring to the opinion in Fleming v. Alter, supra, that person was the bailee’s spouse.
We do not feel obliged to answer appellant’s other two questions because from our examination-of the record the premises for them seem to be versions of the testimony which the jury did not accept.
The judgment is
Affirmed.
'ROBERTS, C. J., DREW, J., and PATTERSON, Associate Justice, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (19 total)
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Aurbach v. Gallina, 753 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 2000)…PARIENTE, J. We have for review Aurbach v. Gallina, 721 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), on the basis of express and direct conflict with Frankel v. Fleming, 69 So. 2d 887 (Fla.1954). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. FACTS Michael Aurbach, petitioner, was injured in an automobile accident by a motor vehicle operated by Angelina Gallina, age eighteen. Aurbach and his wife sued Angelina as the…
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Raydel, Ltd. v. Medcalfe, 178 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1965)…d only to Mr. Medcalfe and that he negligently operated it while his wife was merely his guest passenger in the car, injuring her. Under the circumstances of this case, the decision of the District Court of Appeal conflicts with Frankel v. Fleming, 69 So. 2d 887 (Fla.1954). In that case Frankel rented a car from a rental car agency. He was the bailee of the car. While it was being negligently operated by one Wellener to whom Frankel had in turn entrusted the [*571] rental car, Fleming was injured. Fleming s…
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Rethell Byrd Chandler v. GEICO Indem. Co., 78 So. 3d 1293 (Fla. 2011)…ct been deprived of the incidents of ownership, can such an owner escape responsibility. Certainly the terms of a, bailment, either restricted, or general, can have no bearing upon that question. Id. at 837 (emphasis added); see Frankel v. Fleming, 69 So. 2d 887, 888 (Fla.1954) (“Having held a lessee liable in the cited case ... we find no difficulty in now holding the appellant, a bailee, responsible in the instant case for injury caused by the one to whom he entrusted the car... .”); accord State Farm Mut…
Previewing 3 of 19 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Wilson v. Burke, 53 So.2d 319 (Fla. 1951)
- Fleming v. Alter, 69 So. 2d 185 (Fla. 1953)
- Rutherford v. Allen Parker Co., 67 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 1953)