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SUPERIOR COURT
OF THE

STATE OF DELAWARE JOHN A. PARKINS, JR.

JUDGE

NEW CASTLE COUNTY COURTHOUSE 500 NORTH KING STREET, SUITE 10400 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19801-3733 TELEPHONE: (302) 255-2584

Beverly L. Bove, Esquire Vincent J.X. Hedrick, II, Esquire 1020 West 18th Street P.O. Box 1607 Wilmington, Delaware 19899 Attorney for Plaintiffs Richard D. Abrams, Esquire Christian G. Heesters, Esquire Mintzer, Sarowitz, Zeris, Ledva & Meyers 1220 North Market Street, Suite 300 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Attorney for Defendant Your Kar Express Rentals, Inc. Re: Frank I. Henderson, Jr., et al. v. Your Kar Express Rentals, Inc., et al. C.A. No. 06C-03-131 JAP Submitted: March 3, 2009 Decided: June 30, 2009 On Defendant Your Kar Express Rentals, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment GRANTED

Dear Counsel: Before the Court is Defendant Your Kar Express Rentals, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment. Rashida Childs rented a car from Your Kar, a car rental company located in Virginia, and drove the car through

Delaware on her way to see her family in Philadelphia. While in Delaware, she was involved in a deadly collision with Plaintiffs' car. The issue is whether Plaintiffs can recover against Your Kar for negligent entrustment based on the fact that at the time Childs rented the car her driver's license, although valid on its face, was suspended due to an unpaid speeding ticket and lack of insurance. Under Virginia law, Childs' lack of a driver's license cannot sustain a claim for negligent entrustment and therefore, Your Kar's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Rashida Childs was enlisted in the navy and stationed in Virginia. At the time of the accident giving rise to this suit she was assigned to the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower. While on leave in January 2006, Childs rented a car from Your Kar, a small rental car company located in the Tidewater area of Virginia, in order to drive to Philadelphia to visit her family. When she rented the car Childs produced, at Your Kar's request, proof of Virginia residency and a Virginia drivers license, which appeared on its face to be valid and in effect. Unbeknownst to Childs and Your Kar, however, Childs' driver's license was twice suspended; once because she had failed to pay a fine for a speeding ticket she received the previous April while driving in

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Maryland, and again because she failed to maintain liability insurance. 1 The undisputed evidence shows that Childs could have had her license reinstated simply by paying the Maryland fine, providing proof of insurance to the Virginia authorities and paying an $85 reinstatement fee. The record shows that Childs was, in fact, insured at the time of the accident and that after the accident she had her license reinstated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Three days after renting the car, while driving through Delaware, Childs was involved in a horrific collision with Plaintiffs' vehicle when she made a left turn in front of Plaintiffs, who had the right-of-way. As a result of the crash, Mr. Henderson was badly injured and Mrs. Henderson was killed. Plaintiffs filed a complaint in this Court against Childs, Your Kar, and State Farm Mutual Insurance Company. Plaintiffs dismissed Childs from the case after recovering the limits of her insurance. Their remaining claims are against Your Kar for negligent entrustment and State Farm for underinsured motorist benefits. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, when Childs rented the car, Your Kar made no inquiry as to whether the drivers' license presented by Childs had been suspended or revoked. You Kar did not ask Childs about the status of her license, nor did it check with the
The record is devoid of any evidence that her license was suspended because of her previous driving record. 3
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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. If Your Kar had made an inquiry of the Virginia DMV it would have learned of the suspension of Childs' license. The gist of Plaintiffs' claims against Your Kar is that at the time it leased the car to Childs it should have accessed driving information about Childs available car rental companies from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. According to Theresa Gonyo, the Director of Data Management Services for the Virginia DMV, Your Kar would have been able to learn whether Childs' license had been suspended by accessing certain records available to car rental companies on computer. In order to learn anything further about Childs' records, including any past violations, Your Kar would have been required to send a request by fax to Virginia DMV. Unfortunately, Plaintiffs did not provide any evidence on how long this fax process takes or whether it would be fast enough to make it commercially feasible for a car rental agency to make such inquiries. 2

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Summary judgment is appropriate where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the
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The rental agreement shows that Childs rented the car at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. 4

affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." 3 When considering a motion for summary judgment, the facts must be viewed "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." 4 Furthermore, "[f]rom those accepted facts the court will draw all rational inferences which favor the non-moving party." 5

III. DISCUSSION A. Virginia Law Applies to Plaintiffs' Negligent Entrustment Claim Delaware courts decide choice of law questions by application of the "most significant relationship test," which requires consideration of the following seven factors set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts

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