FACTS:
On June 30, 2000, Tanya Whitaker rented a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer from Enterprise. On July 4, Whitaker and her boyfriend, Tyson Wells, drove the Blazer to Missouri where Tyson purchased firecrackers, bottle rockets, roman candles, arterial shells, and cherry bombs. The amount of fireworks purchased filled four grocery bags and a crate. That evening some of the fireworks were discharged at a park. The remaining fireworks, a minimum of one full bag and one half full bag remained in the cargo area of the Blazer. Whitaker then drove in the Blazer to the area of Forest Avenue and Sixteenth Street in Des Moines, accompanied by O’Keitha Nelson, Tyson Wells, Teondra Wells, Douglas Wells, and Shunntae Averette. Tyson and Douglas Wells exited the Blazer and shot fireworks at people and vehicles in the neighborhood. Douglas Wells and a witness named David Fugate testified that some fireworks were being discharged from within the Blazer, but Whitaker denied that. When the Blazer reached a position on Forest Avenue between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets the fireworks in the cargo area exploded, severely injuring some of the occupants in the Blazer, including plaintiffs Teondra Wells and Douglas Wells. Tyson Wells testified that the explosion was caused by fireworks thrown into the Blazer by a person standing on the street, but other evidence disputes that conclusion. David Fugate, an eyewitness on the street, testified that he recalled seeing a light flicker in the Blazer similar to a cigarette lighter immediately prior to the explosion.
ALLEGATIONS
Teondra and Douglas Wells sued Whitaker as the driver of the vehicle, and sued Enterprise as the owner of the vehicle, claiming that Enterprise should be vicariously liable for Whitaker’s fault under the car owner’s liability provisions contained in Iowa Code section 321.493.
"The trial court submitted an interrogatory to the jury in the following form:
Special Interrogatory No. 2
1. “Did Doug Wells sustain damage done by the motor vehicle by reason of the negligence of the driver, Tanya Whitaker?”
2. “Did Teondra Wells sustain damage done by the motor vehicle by reason of the negligence of the driver, Tanya Whitaker?”
The jury answered “No” to each of these questions. Based on those answers, plaintiffs’ vicarious-liability claim against Enterprise was rejected."
LAW
"Iowa Code section 321.493(1)(a) provides in pertinent part:
[I]n all cases where damage is done by any motor vehicle by reason of negligence of the driver, and driven with the consent of the owner, the owner of the motor vehicle shall be liable for such damage . . . ."
ANALYSIS
"In Stuart v. Pilgrim, 247 Iowa 709, 74 N.W.2d 212 (1956), we stated:
Our statute, section 321.493, supra, by its terms operates only when the consent driven car does some damage. So if it collided with another vehicle without injuring the latter or its occupants, or if the driver of another vehicle in some negligent manner occasioned damage to the consent driven automobile without a direct collision between the two cars, our owner's responsibility statute would have no application. It is only “where damage is done by any car by reason of the negligence of the driver” that it comes into play."
The court concluded that even when "viewing the facts most favorably to plaintiffs, the circumstances that caused their injuries do not create a vicarious liability under section 321.493. The fact that plaintiffs’ injuries occurred in the motor vehicle while it was being driven is not sufficiently related to the operation or condition of the vehicle so as to fall within the provisions of that statute."
OBLIGATORY BLOG COMMENTARY
Yep, it was the car that caused your injuries. Not screwing around with illegal fireworks, shooting them at people. It was the fact that the car was moving at the time.
Nice try.
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