Parent Faces Liability For Automobile Accident Involving Child

A Superior Court judge has ruled that an individual injured in an automobile accident can bring a claim for negligent entrustment against a mother whose disabled adult son allegedly caused the crash. The mother and her son, who suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)—for which he took medication, were registered co-owners of the vehicle involved in the accident. The mother, who lived primarily in California at the time of the accident but helped her son with living expenses and helped pay for the car involved, argued she could not be liable for negligent entrustment because she did not control the vehicle, did not know of her son's alleged unfitness to operate it, and that such unfitness did not cause the accident.