Magazine for the professional car and truck rental industry.
AGE RESTR NEGLIGENCE
While minimum age requirements are an accepted part of rental policy, what do statistics, court cases and the law say regarding renting to drivers that might be 'too old'?
BY JOANNE M. TUCKER T
he saying that "age is just a number" can ring true in a lot of life's situations. But how does age play a part in motor
vehicle laws, and how does this aff ect car rental? In November 2011, a motorcyclist was sideswiped in New York by a 90-year-old woman who was driving a rental. T e mo- torcyclist attempted to sue the woman and the rental company on the grounds that the rental company was negligent in renting to a 90-year-old. In this circumstance, could a negligent entrustment argument be made by showing that the renter was simply "too old"? T ose who attempt to sue for negligence for renting to senior drivers may try to use statistics to further their argument: Accord- ing to the National Highway Traffi c Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis, in 2009, the fatality rate in traffi c accidents for 80- to 84-year-olds was almost 18 per 100,000 people, which is the second-highest rate compared to all other age categories, just behind 16- to 20-year-olds.
Elderly Drivers and Risk
But are elderly drivers really unsafe? Sta- tistics reveal that seniors do have a higher risk of not surviving an accident, as shown in the NHTSA accident fatality rate data. Howev- er, "driver involvement" rates in fatal crash- es show that drivers over the age of 65 have some of the lowest involvement rates; while 21- to 24-year-olds have the highest. Breaking down the statistics further, the involvement rate of drivers 85 years and above is about par with the average middle- aged driver. And in looking at the statistics by sex, female drivers above 65 have signifi cant-
20 ARN • MARCH / APRIL 2012
ly fewer crashes than males. T e same is true for female drivers across all age categories. Moreover, according to the NHTSA, driv- ers 65 and older tend to be involved in fewer alcohol-related, speed-related and nighttime- related accidents compared to any other age group. As well, a 2010 NHTSA report shows a closer accident correlation with health risks associated with getting older, such as poor vision, and not necessarily with age itself.
Court Rulings
A lawsuit in the New York motorcyclist case would have had a clearer path to victo- ry under the doctrine of vicarious liability. However, the Graves Amendment, passed in
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2005, prohibits states from imposing vicar- ious liability onto non-negligent rental and leasing companies. T e motorcyclist was leſt trying to prove actual negligence instead, and a lawsuit was never fi led.
Before a case could be made, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles ruled that the rental car company broke no laws be- cause the woman's driver's license was val- id and current. And besides, the woman had an impeccable driving record.
In looking at court cases addressing age in association with risk in driving a rental, it's clear that a court would side with the DMV. For example, in Drummond v. Walker in 1986, a U.S. Federal District Court said that
TRAFFIC DEATHS OF ALL AGES PER 100,000 POPULATION
Ages 16-20 Ages 85+ Ages 21-24 Ages 34-54 Ages 70-74
Ages 80-84 Ages 75-79 Ages 65+ Ages 55-64 Ages 65-69
2008
2009
These traffi c death statistics show that 16- to 20-year-olds have the highest rate of fatalities in traffi c accidents over the last decade. In 2009, 80- to 84-year-olds had the second highest, and 85 and over had the third most traffi c fatalities.
SOURCE: NHTSA
