Family Purpose Liability: Alive and Well in Georgia

In our serious injury practice we are often times confronted with cases involving the Family Purpose Doctrine. It is not unusual for one of our clients to be injured by the acts of a teenage driver. More often than not, the teenage driver is operating the automobile with the express permission of the owner of the car which are usually the parents. Under Georgia law, when a family purpose car that is furnished by the owner to a member of the family for their convenience and pleasure is used for such purpose, and a member of the family is present in the automobile controlling it, or who could control the operation of it, there is family purpose liability in this state.
In Georgia, the law has long been that the owner of a family purpose car is liable for the acts of members of his family in driving the family car. Thus, if a parent entrusts their teenage son or daughter with a family purpose car for the convenience of the family, so long as the car is being operated for the pleasure of some member of the owner’s family, the owner is liable. This liability also extends to third parties allowed by the teenage driver to also operate the car with their permission. For example, if the teenager is entrusted the car by the parent and that teenager allows one of their friends to drive, the family purpose doctrine would still apply as long as a member of the family is present in the automobile and could supervise control and operation of the car.
We have cases pending in our firm right now where this doctrine applies to the liability of the car owner/parent. The teenage driver runs the stop sign and causes serious injury to our client. In such a circumstance, we place the parent on notice that we will be looking to them to provide compensation to our client with respect to lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering.
While parents seem to believe that they are no longer liable for the acts of their adult children, this is not necessarily the case in Georgia. The test is not whether a child is an adult or minor, or self-supporting or dependent, but rather whether the child “was using the car for a purpose for which the parent provided it with the permission of the parent either expressed or implied.” The Georgia Courts have extended this doctrine not only to automobiles but also to family boats. See Stuart v. Stephens, 225 Ga. 185, 166 S.E. 2d 890 (1969).
To apply the Family Purpose Doctrine to a given situation, four criteria must be met: 1) the owner of the vehicle must have given permission to a family member to drive the vehicle; 2) the vehicle’s owner must have relinquished control of the vehicle to the family member; 3) the family member must be in the vehicle; and 4) the vehicle must be engaged in a family purpose. We have utilized this long established doctrine in Georgia to obtain compensation for our clients in serious injury case where an at fault teenage driver obviously would have no assets themselves to satisfy a judgment, but their parents would. This doctrine is nothing more than an extension of the doctrine of master/servant liability. As long as a family member is acting as the agent of the parent, the parent will continue to have liability in this state. This is as it should be and greatly helps our firm to obtain compensation for innocent victims of the negligent acts of teenage drivers.