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Nunez v. A&M Rentals2/14/2005
Suffolk.
January 5, 2004.
Negligence, Motor vehicle, Duty to prevent harm, Wrongful death. Wrongful Death. Motor Vehicle, Entrustment. Statute, Construction.
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on September 20, 1999.
The case was heard by Diane M. Kottmyer, J., on a motion for summary judgment.
This is a wrongful death and pain and suffering action against a car rental company. The plaintiffs, the mother and the companion of Jose Valentin, claim that the defendant company, A&M Rentals, Inc. (A&M), was negligent in renting a car to the driver who caused Valentin's death. The plaintiffs appeal from a Superior Court judge's order allowing A&M's motion for summary judgment.
Factual and Procedural Background
On June 12, 1999, John Patten rented a 1999 Chevrolet Corvette from A&M. At the time of the rental, Patten showed A&M a facially valid Massachusetts driver's license. Patten had rented cars from the defendant "approximately" six times before without incident.
About four hours after renting the car, Patten collided head on with the 1998 Ford Escort Jose Valentin was driving. Valentin was killed; his passenger Walter Valentin (who is not a party to this appeal) was seriously injured. In the investigation that followed the crash, an accident reconstruction expert estimated that Patten was driving one hundred miles an hour on the wrong side of the street at the time of impact. The expert also discovered that although Patten had presented a facially valid license to A&M, in fact Patten's license had been suspended in 1997 for Patten's failure to pay an eighty dollar fine. The fine had been assessed for driving forty-three miles an hour in a thirty mile an hour zone. (The suspension was not part of the disposition of the speeding violation. Had Patten paid the fine in a timely manner, his license would not have been suspended.) At deposition, Patten claimed to be unaware of the ticket. When Patten paid the fine after the accident, his license was immediately reinstated.
The plaintiffs filed suit against A&M claiming, among other things, that the defendant breached its duty to the decedent by leasing the car to Patten without verifying Patten's driving record. The plaintiffs contended that commercially available systems and procedures, such as TML information systems' "Driver-check" would have allowed A&M to do so.
A&M responded with a motion for summary judgment asserting (1) that A&M had no duty to verify that Patten's license had not been suspended; and (2) that any negligence on the part of A&M was not the legal cause of the accident. After production of appropriate documents and a hearing, a Superior Court judge allowed the defendant's motion.
Standard of Review
"The standard of review of a grant of summary judgment is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, all material facts have been established and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Augat, Inc. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 410 Mass. 117, 120 (1991). See Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c), 365 Mass. 824 (1974). We will uphold an order granting or denying summary judgment "if the trial judge ruled on undisputed material facts and ruling was correct as a matter of law." Commonwealth v. One 1987 Mercury Cougar Auto., 413 Mass. 534, 536 (1992). On appeal we may affirm a motion for summary judgment based upon any ground in the record, even if it differs from the reasoning of the trial judge. Yakubowicz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 404 Mass. 624, 626 (1989).
Plaintiffs' issu
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