Individuals who own significant assets must be aware of the potential consequences of a court judgment from an unexpected accident or financial exposure. While one might think of lawsuits stemming from car accidents, professional malpractice, or business disputes as the most common source of substantial financial liability, significant financial exposure might come from where you least expect it, such as ownership of your golf cart. While many Florida families use golf carts to cruise around their neighborhoods, not everyone realizes the full extent of the liability resulting from golf car accidents and what that liability can mean for your assets.
A Boca Raton asset protection lawyer at Kramer Green can help you protect your assets from creditors under Florida law. We can also ensure that you are aware of developments in the law that may potentially expose you to significant liability. Together, we can shield the assets you have worked so hard to accumulate over time.
Two Court Decisions, Over $68 Million in Damages
In 2016, Chiong allowed his 16-year-old step-niece, Acuna, to drive herself and four other children around the neighborhood. Acuna failed to stop at a stop sign, which caused the golf cart to be struck by another vehicle and roll over, injuring everyone in the golf cart. Bennar, a 12-year-old passenger, suffered catastrophic head injuries.
Bennar and his parents sued Chiong in Miami-Dade County, alleging that Chiong breached his duty of care to Bennar and negligently entrusted the golf cart to Acuna, who then negligently operated it, which led to the crash that caused Bennar’s injuries. The Court awarded Bennar over $50 million in past and future economic and non-economic damages, including his pain and suffering and loss of consortium for each of his parents.
Before the trial, Acuna reached a $18 million consent judgment with Bennar’s parents based on her coverage under her parents’ GEICO insurance policy for bodily injury and property damage in the usage of a “non-owned auto.” GEICO filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking a declaratory ruling that it owed Acuna or her parents no coverage for the accident under its insurance policy because a golf cart was not a “private passenger auto.” The district court granted GEICO’s motion for summary judgment.
Acuna’s parents appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. On appeal, the 11th Circuit determined that the golf cart was covered under the GEICO policy and, as a result, reversed the district court’s order and remanded the case to that Court for further proceedings.
Potential Liability for Golf Cart Owners
A golf cart owner could be liable for damages when he allows another person to drive his golf cart and an accident occurs that causes injuries to others. As seen in the Chiong case described above, an owner could be liable under a theory of negligent entrustment by allowing a minor, an intoxicated individual, or someone otherwise unable to drive his golf cart safely. However, a golf cart owner also could be liable under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Under this legal theory, the owner need not be negligent in entrusting the golf cart to another. Instead, the owner is vicariously liable for the driver’s negligent actions to whom he loaned the golf cart.
Damages Caps and Liability for Golf Cart Owners
Florida law places damage caps on persons who own motor vehicles and loan them to others, who then cause accidents that injure others and/or cause property damage. However, these damage caps apply only to motor vehicles required to be licensed for use on highways, which do not include golf carts. Therefore, as seen in the Chiong case, golf cart owners can face virtually unlimited vicarious liability when people they allow to drive their golf carts cause accidents and injure others.
Steps to Avoid Potential Golf Cart Accident Liability
As golf carts – and golf cart accidents – are commonplace in Florida, individuals should be extremely careful when owning and allowing others to operate them. As a result, owners should generally refrain from allowing others to drive their golf carts, particularly minors, unlicensed drivers, drunk individuals, or those who cannot drive safely. Golf cart owners should realize that allowing certain individuals to drive their golf carts, such as unlicensed or intoxicated individuals, likely never would be covered by their insurance policies.
Furthermore, golf cart owners should review their current insurance policies, including homeowners’ insurance, automobile insurance, and general liability policies, to see if they have adequate coverage for the potentially unlimited liability that could arise from a golf cart accident. They also should determine whether their existing policies would cover a golf cart accident and, if so, under what circumstances.
Avoiding co-ownership of golf carts is also a good way to reduce liability in a golf cart accident. Rather than joint vicarious liability resulting from a golf cart being owned jointly by spouses, transferring title or registration of the golf cart to one spouse or the other can limit the assets that a creditor can reach in the event of a judgment. Of course, in many cases, a golf cart title or registration may not exist. In that case, spouses may execute an affidavit stating that one spouse owns 100% interest in the golf cart and the other spouse is not authorized to drive or use the golf cart.
Allow Kramer Green to Assist You with Your Asset Protection Plan
A Boca Raton asset protection attorney at Kramer, Green, Zuckerman, Greene & Buchsbaum, P.A. stands ready to help you safeguard your assets from the reach of judgment creditors and others. We will take measures to ensure that you and your loved ones are insulated from major sources of liability. We have the experience to guide you through the asset protection process to reach your goals and objectives. Contact our office today at (954) 966-2112 or online to schedule a time to discuss your legal questions and concerns with our Fort Lauderdale asset protection lawyer.