Stanford v. Nogiec

Citations

• 233 Conn. App. 862

Syllabus

The plaintiffs appealed from the trial court's judgment granting the defendant rental car company's motion for summary judgment on the plaintiffs' com- plaint alleging, inter alia, negligent entrustment. N, whose driver's license was subject to an ignition interlock device restriction, rented a motor vehicle from the defendant and, later that same day, while driving the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, struck the plaintiff L, a pedestrian. The plaintiffs claimed that the court improperly concluded that the defendant did not have a duty to determine whether N's driver's license was subject to restrictions before renting him a vehicle. Held: The trial court properly determined that the defendant did not have a duty pursuant to the statute (§ 14-153) governing the renting of motor vehicles to use an online database to confirm whether N's license was subject to any restrictions, as the plain language and legislative history of § 14-153 indicated that the defendant was required only to inspect N's physical driver's license card to confirm that it was facially valid and unexpired. The trial court properly granted the defendant's motion for summary judg- ment, as the defendant's employee who rented the motor vehicle to N submitted an affidavit in which he averred that, before renting the vehicle, he had inspected N's driver's license and confirmed that it was facially valid and unexpired, and, because the plaintiffs did not present any evidence to the contrary regarding that issue of fact in opposing summary judgment, no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether the defendant fulfilled its duties pursuant to § 14-153. This court concluded that, under the circumstances of this case, the defen- dant did not have an affirmative common-law duty to inspect N's driver's license using an online database in the absence of readily apparent facts providing a reason to suspect that a prospective renter has any limitation on his ability to drive, and,