BECHINA V. ENTERPRISE LEASING

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 07-1225

Case Date: 12/12/2007

Preview:Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida, July Term, A.D. 2007
Opinion filed December 12, 2007. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D07-1225 Lower Tribunal No. 05-25024 ________________

Michael Bechina, et al.,
Appellants, vs.

Enterprise Leasing Company,
Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jon I. Gordon, Judge. Andre Mura; Franklin J. Siegel, for appellants. Holland & Knight and David C. Borucke; George, Hartz, Lundeen, Flagg & Fulmer and Mitchell L. Lundeen, for appellees. Richard P. Schweitzer for Truck Renting and Leasing Association, Inc., as Amicus Curiae.

Before COPE, GREEN, and SALTER, JJ. SALTER, J.

The Bechinas appeal a final summary judgment in favor of the appellee, Enterprise Leasing Company. Enterprise owned and leased a motor vehicle to a non-party, who in turn injured the Bechinas in a collision. The Bechinas included Enterprise as a vicariously liable defendant in their lawsuit for damages for their injuries, and Enterprise successfully raised the defense of the federal "Graves Amendment" 1 as a complete bar to the Bechinas' claim. On appeal, the Bechinas raise two issues. First, they assert that the trial court misinterpreted a provision of the Graves Amendment that limits the preemptive reach of the statute and preserves certain vicarious liability provisions under preexisting Florida statutory and common law. Second, they assert that the Graves Amendment was unconstitutional. arguments and affirm. This Court recently interpreted and applied the Graves Amendment in a similar case, Kumarsingh v. PV Holding Corp., 32 Fla. L. Weekly D2389 (Fla. 3d DCA Oct. 3, 2007). 2 In Kumarsingh, we concurred with the thorough analysis of the issue in Garcia v. Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc., 510 F. Supp. 2d 821 (M.D. Fla. 2007), and we upheld the preemptive language of the Graves Amendment as
1

We disagree as to each of these

49 U.S.C.

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