Vining v. Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc., RENT-A-CAR
| Decision Date | 20 April 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75--756,RENT-A-CAR,75--756 |
| Citation | 330 So.2d 550 |
| Parties | Charlie VINING and Velma Vining, wife of Charlie Vining, Appellants, v. AVISSYSTEMS, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Papy, Levy, Carruthers & Poole and Sheridan K. Weinstein, Coral Gables, for appellants.
Richard M. Gale, Robert L. Dube, Miami, for appellee.
Before BARKDULL, C.J., and PEARSON and NATHAN, JJ.
This is an appeal by the plaintiffs, Charlie Vining and Velma Vining, his wife, from an order of the trial court dismissing with prejudice the remaining counts of their third amended complaint against defendant Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc.
An Avis rental automobile was stolen from the Avis lot at the Miami International Airport. While driving the rental car, the thief negligently collided with the automobile driven by Charlie Vining. Vining sued Avis for damages for injuries sustained in the collision, charging that Avis left the vehicle unattended with the ignition keys in the igniton and with the door open and the lights burning in such a manner as to attract attention to the vehicle. This negligence was alleged to have proximately caused the plaintiffs' injuries. Avis filed a motion to dismiss citing this court's decision in Lingefelt v. Hanner, Fla.App.1960, 125 So.2d 325, which absolved the owner of a car of liability for damages caused by a car thief, despite the fact that the owner negligently left the ignition switch unlocked. The trial court granted Avis' motion to dismiss with prejudice and this appeal ensued.
The plaintiffs contend that Avis is in violation of § 316.097, Fla.Stat., entitled 'Unattended motor vehicle,' which in part provides,
'No person driving or in charge of any motor vehicle . . . shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, and removing the key. . . .'
Although violation of a state statute is evidence of negligence, 1 we follow the reasoning of Lingefelt v. Hanner, supra, wherein it is held that the determinative issue is one of causation. Assuming Avis' act of leaving the keys in the ignition in violation of the statute was evidence of of negligence, the plaintiffs still could not recover unless such negligent act was the proximate cause of the plaintiffs' injuries. Proximate cause is defined as, 'that cause which in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have occurred.' 23 Fla.Jur., Negligence, § 26, and cases cited therein. The courts of Florida adhere to the general principle that an intervening criminal act breaks the chain of causation. Accordingly, the...
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Vining v. Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc.
...cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal, reported at 330 So.2d 550 (Fla.3d DCA 1976). In light of the great public interest involved, the court below has certified the cause to this Court, pursuant to Article V, Sect......
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Schwartz v. American Home Assur. Co., 75--701
...to be of such importance that we have certified to the Supreme Court of Florida a similar decision in the case of Vining v. Avis Rent-A-Car, Fla.App.1976, 330 So.2d 550. The summary final judgment in favor of the defendants is CHARLES CARROLL, Associate Judge (dissenting). I respectfully di......
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Almeida v. Trushin, 51382
...respondents. ADKINS, Justice. Certiorari was granted in this cause to review the decision of the District Court of Appeal, 4th District, (330 So.2d 550) on ground of direct conflict with the opinion of this Court in Vining v. Avis Rent-a-Car Systems, Inc., 354 So.2d 54 (Fla.1977), on the qu......
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Almeida v. Trushin, 76-642
...negligent act of leaving the keys in the car and the subsequent damages incurred in an accident. See Vining v. Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc., 330 So.2d 550 (Fla. 3rd D.C.A.1976) and cases cited therein. Because the Florida Supreme Court has never passed on the issue, the Third District Cour......