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Tellez v. Saban9/24/1996
TOCI, Judge
Arizona prohibits a rental car company from knowingly renting a car to an unlicensed driver. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. ("A.R.S.") ยง 28-477(B) (1989). Dennis Saban and Saban's Rent-A-Car ("Sabans") violated the statute by renting a car to John Pitts, knowing that he was going to entrust the car to Karla Fernandez, an unlicensed driver. While driving the rental car, Fernandez ran a red light and collided with a van driven by Gloria M. Tellez, who died in the accident.
Jose and Rosario Tellez ("Tellez"), Gloria's parents, sued Sabans for her wrongful death. The trial court entered summary judgment for Sabans, ruling as a matter of law that Sabans' violation of a statute was not the proximate cause of the fatal accident. On appeal, we hold that the trial court erred in determining as a matter of law that Sabans' conduct was not the proximate cause of the accident. We reject the rationale of Christy v. Baker, 7 Ariz. App. 354, 439 P.2d 517 (1968), and reverse the judgment for defendants.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
We view the facts in the light most favorable to Tellez, the party against whom the court entered summary judgment. Ontiveros v. Borak, 136 Ariz. 500, 503, 667 P.2d 200, 203 (1983). In August 1991, Fernandez was twenty-four years old and had neither a car, credit card, nor valid driver's license. Because she wanted to drive to Tucson, she asked John Pitts to use his credit card to help her rent a car.
On August 30, Pitts and Fernandez drove Pitts' truck to Saban's Rent-A-Car and parked in view of Michael Loan and Dennis Saban, the employees on duty. Fernandez selected a car, and Loan consulted her through Pitts concerning the rental terms. Pitts rented the car but informed Loan that Fernandez was going to drive it.
Loan asked whether Fernandez had a driver's license. When Fernandez said that she did not, Loan told her that she could not drive the car off the lot. In Loan's presence, Pitts told Fernandez to drive his truck off the lot. Fernandez responded, "Okay, we'll go around the corner and we'll switch cars." Neither Saban nor Loan did anything to prevent the exchange of vehicles.
Although Pitts and Saban had understood that the rental was for a single day, Fernandez did not return the car after driving to and from Tucson. On September 7, 1991, seven days after taking possession of the car, Fernandez gave a party at which she drank heavily. During the evening, she left the party and drove the car to a bar where she consumed alcoholic beverages over a three-hour period. Upon leaving the bar, she stopped to purchase beer. In driving away from the store, she ran a red light and collided with Gloria Tellez's vehicle.
Tellez brought this action on September 8, 1992, and alleged, among other matters, that Sabans had negligently rented the vehicle and that as a result of Sabans' violation of the statute requiring inspection of Fernandez's driver's license, Fernandez caused the accident that killed Gloria Tellez. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendant Dennis Saban on the claim for negligent entrustment. The court found "no evidence exists that Karla Fernandez's lack of a driver's license played any part in causing the accident." Therefore, as a matter of law, the court concluded that the evidence "failed to show that the Defendants' negligent entrustment of this vehicle to an unlicensed driver was a proximate cause of or contributed to Karla Fernandez negligently running the red light, hitting and killing" Gloria Tellez, citing Christy v. Baker, 7 Ariz. App. at 355-58, 439 P.2d at 518-20. The trial court also granted summary judgment to Saban Rent-A-Car on the same basis and de
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