Personal Injury Law

Injured Florida Car Accident Victims Can Sue Rental Car Companies

By Joseph I. Lipsky, Esq.

In what we can only describe as great news for Florida car accident victims, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which covers Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, declared a Federal Law, which prohibited personal injury lawsuits against car rental companies, as unconstitutional.

The law, known as the Graves Amendment, which the U.S. Congress passed in 2005, gave rental car companies immunity if one of their renters injured someone in a car accident. The amendment was contrary to Florida Law which had always allowed personal injury cases against car owners, if the person they allowed to drive their car, negligently caused an accident, this doctrine is known as "dangerous instrumentality."

We in Florida are particularly affected by the Court's ruling, given the high number of foreign tourists who rent cars, do not pay for insurance, and drive carelessly on our roadways seriously injuring and, in too many occasions, killing others.

Full post as published by Florida Personal Injury Law Blog on September 21, 2007 (boomark / email).