DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Civ. § 18.13
Motor Vehicle Owners – Use Beyond Scope of Permission
DRIVER ACTING BEYOND SCOPE OF PERMISSION TO USE VEHICLE
Ordinarily, when someone drives another person’s vehicle as the owner’s agent
and with the owner’s permission, the owner is liable for the driver’s acts. But if the
driver uses the vehicle for a private purpose, then the owner is not liable because the
driver has used the vehicle outside the scope of the owner’s permission. Permission
means the express or implied agreement of the owner for the driver to use the
vehicle. Similarly, if the driver of another person’s vehicle is not acting as the
owner’s agent but is using the vehicle with the owner’s permission but for the
driver’s own purposes, the owner is not liable.
If you find that [driver’s name] acted outside the scope of [owner’s name]’s
permission and used the vehicle for [his/her] own purposes, then you must find that
[owner’s name] is not liable for [driver’s name]’s negligence.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- civ-2025-10-22
- Content hash
a6c29c75a264af069afc36f02498bfd6d5cf1387a9511202b55b2db447ad8194
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