Sharon Degnan, of our Fort Lauderdale office, secured a favorable opinion from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in a case involving the Graves Amendment and Florida Statute § 324.021(9)(c)3.

The case arose after a plaintiff riding an electric scooter was struck by a driver operating a loaner vehicle that had been provided by our auto dealership client to its customer while his vehicle was being serviced at the dealership. The plaintiff sued the driver for negligence and sought to hold the dealership vicariously liable based on its ownership of the loaner vehicle.

The dealership prevailed on summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s claims were barred by both the federal Graves Amendment and Florida Statute § 324.021. The Fourth DCA affirmed.

A key issue on appeal was whether the loaner vehicle provided to the customer while his personal vehicle was being serviced qualified as a vehicle “rented or leased” for purposes of the Graves Amendment. The Fourth DCA rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the absence of a separate payment by the customer for the loaner vehicle prevented the transaction from being a rental or lease. The court looked to the language in the agreement for the loaner vehicle, which specifically stated that it was rental agreement that was supported by consideration through the opportunity to service the customer’s vehicle and receive payment for those services.

In reaching its decision, the Fourth DCA adopted the Eleventh Circuit’s analysis in Thayer v. Randy Marion Chevrolet Buick Cadillac, LLC, 30 F.4th 1290 (11th Cir. 2022), while distinguishing the Fifth District’s decision in Romero v. Fields Motorcars of Fla., Inc., 333 So. 3d 746 (Fla. 5th DCA 2022).

The court further held that, even if the Graves Amendment did not apply, Florida Statute § 324.021(9)(c)3 independently barred the vicarious liability claim because the statute protects dealerships and similar entities when they provide customers with temporary replacement vehicles while their vehicles are being serviced so long as they comply with certain requirements.