Previously, I’ve written about the dangerous driving of Nick “Hogan” Bollea, Hulk Hogan’s son, a juvenile. If this had occurred in Alabama, what are the legal implications? In Alabama we have a legal theory called negligent entrustment. The idea behind the law is that if you know that someone is a dangerous driver, if you let them drive your car, you are responsible for the injuries and damages they inflect on others while dangerously driving. Hulk Hogan said about Nick’s driving that Nick wasn’t into drag racing, he’s into precision driving. (One witness told police they were revving their engines and racing between traffic signs. Hulk on CNN Larry King Live said they were not drag racing.) He also said that Nick got “a couple tickets.” Actually, Nick had gotten three speeding tickets in the 11 months prior to the accident, for going 115 mph in a 70 mph zone, 57 mph in a 30 mph zone and 106 mph in a 70 mph zone. Nick in an interview in the September issue of Rides magazine bragged about getting out of speeding tickets because of who his father is (see my earlier post). Based upon the media accounts, it wouldn’t take an Alabama jury long to conclude that Nick not only was a danger on the highway, but that Nick’s father was responsible (by negligent entrustment) for his driving.
The essential ingredients of a cause of action for negligent entrustment are: (1) an entrustment; (2) to an incompetent; (3) with knowledge that he is incompetent; (4) proximate cause; and (5) damages. Halford v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, LLC, 921 So.2d 409, 412 (Ala. 2005). Entrustment can include either (1) actual entrustment, (2) continuing consent to use the vehicle, or (3) leaving the vehicle available for use. Note, Negligent Entrustment in Alabama, 23 Ala. L.Rev. 733, 738 (Summer 1971). Proof of incompetence may “be established by evidence of previous acts of negligent or reckless driving, . . . previous accidents, or previous acts of driving while intoxicated.” Id. at 746. Any doubt in your mind that Nick was an incompetent driver with his speeding tickets in that short a period of time and bragging about his speeding in Rides magazine?
Based upon the media accounts, it also probably won’t be much of a job to prove that Hulk Hogan knew of Nick’s prior speeding tickets. That fulfills the knowledge requirement.
Proximate cause is a legal concept which simply means that his bad driving was the cause of the injury. If for instance, another driver had hit the car while they were stopped, Nick’s driving would not have had anything to do with the cause for the injury. Here, it was Nick’s driving that was the cause of the wreck. Proximate cause will be able to be established.
Damages are the injuries to the passenger. Here, the damages were caused by the wreck.
Hopefully, you now understand what a negligent entrustment claim is. In Alabama, this would be a claim that ought to be pursued in this type of fact situation. This type of claim in many cases can be quite difficult to prove. The facts can be not as straight forward as they appear to be here from the media reports. If there appears to be this type of potential claim in a case, a good knowledgeable lawyer is needed to handle the claim.
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