Personal Car Sharing and Manslaughter

You would never believe that these two go together; but shockingly they do.No amount of insurance coverage would save an unwary vehicle owner from manslaughter charges due to an accident caused by his renter if the vehicle owner fails to periodically inspect and repair the vehicle.

Most vehicle owners and personal car sharing services do NOT understand how they can be charged with manslaughter for an accident caused by their renters; but they can and they have.

“Defense Blames Brakes For Hit-and-Run Death
Vehicular Manslaughter Trial Begins in Md.

Assistant State’s Attorney Roland Patterson told the jury that Nash “knowingly drove an unsafe car in an unsafe way” and argued that mechanics had warned Nash days before the accident that the car was unsafe and needed to be repaired….Houlon blamed a repair shop in Capitol Heights for the fatal accident, saying mechanics there failed to repair Nash’s brakes….He said that Nash and his mother took the car to the shop several times but that the mechanics told them nothing was wrong with the brakes — apparently because repairs would be under warranty.”

http://www.lstamm.com/articles/092397.htm.

Vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence
California Penal Codes: 192c, 192.3, 192.3a, 192.3b

Vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence
Penal Codes: 191.5a, 192c1-192c4, 192.3c, 192.3d

Now apply that situation to Personal Car Sharing. A person rents a car from a car owner who knows or who failed to regularly inspect the car as required by rental laws and the renter gets into an accident due to a defect in the car that could have been uncovered by an inspection, which seriously injures someone or even kills them. How about if a prior renter damaged the breaks without telling the vehicle owner and s/he immediately rents it out to another renter. You are looking at big trouble here for a vehicle owner who fails to properly protect themselves from their renter’s accident .

Who do you think is going to be charged with manslaughter? The vehicle owner that’s who. Do you think the district attorney is going to just let it go if someone is killed. They will be looking for someone to blame. The vehicle owner can come home from work to the waiting arms of the police who place them under arrest and charge them with manslaughter.Imagine the shock there. The vehicle owner will then have the burden of proving that they were NOT negligent in failing to inspect their vehicle. Whether or not they are innocent, the harm done here can ruin them. Plus, the insurance company that companies like RelayRides uses to insure the car will come after the vehicle owner under their subrogation rights to reimburse them for any pay out they make, which can bankrupt the vehicle owner.

This is nothing new in the legal industry. Vehicle owners are just not aware of this and they blindly think a $1 Million insurance policy will protect them. In fact, a $100 Million insurance policy would not protect them from a charge of negligent failure to inspect that causes their renter to get into an accident. The major difference here that is created by personal car sharing is that vehicle owners were operating their own cars and had a better knowledge of any defects in the car. However, once they start renting them out, only regular inspections can uncover any defects caused by their prior renters.

In addition, the key card technology used by car sharing services like RelayRides and Zipcar can be hacked even if the radio signals are encrypted. Thus, installing this technology in your vehicle may mean that your vehicle is now open for theft.

http://RentMyCar.org

Personal car sharing is a good idea; but it must be administered properly. RelayRides’ misinformation and failure to inform their members of the civil and criminal liability in renting their cars may also hold them liable. Especially since RelayRides repeatedly tells its members that they are fully protected by their $1 Million insurance coverage without telling them that they have a legal obligation to REGULARLY inspect their vehicles. The yearly DMV inspection is worthless and will not satisfy rental laws that require regular inspections.

It is inevitable that a vehicle owner will be charged with manslaughter under the personal car sharing scheme. It is just a matter of time. The personal car sharing market would be wise to start working on ways to head off the damage this will do to the industry once it is plastered all over the news, and it will be.

Future news headline: “Personal Car Sharing Member Charged with Manslaughter”

B. David Mehmet
RentMyCar.com