MOTOR VEHICLE LAW: Stamford Superior Court Judge rules handicapped owner of a modified vehicle cannot be found liable for reckless entrustment of vehicle to a valet driver, who was not trained to operate such a vehicle

A Stamford Superior Court judge granted a defendant’s motion for strike plaintiff’s claim of reckless entrustment, holding that a claim for reckless entrustment of a modified vehicle cannot stand where the plaintiff’s sole claim is that the handicapped owner of the modified vehicle was trained to operate the vehicle.

The court reasoned that to hold in favor of the plaintiff would mean that any time a handicapped owner of a modified motor vehicle entrusts their vehicle to a third party for something incidental such as parking there is a sufficient basis for a claim of recklessness, based solely on the fact that the owner is trained and licensed in the operation of such a vehicle.

Erwin Hernandez v. Henry Anderson, No. CV-18-6038427 (July 1, 2019)