Question

PRINCIPLE: A citizen is expected to take reasonable duty of care while driving on the road and not to cause injuries to any person.

FACTS: X, the owner of a car, asked his friend Y to drive the car to his office. As the car was near X's office, it hit a pedestrian P on account of Y's negligent driving and injured him seriously. P sued X for damages. Which one of the following is correct?

Decide.

• A. X is not liable as it was the negligence of Y.
• B. The liability was solely of Y as X was not accompanying him.
• C. Y was driving under X 's care and authority X is liable to pay damages.
• D. X is not liable under the principle of inevitable accident.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Y was driving under X 's care and authority X is liable to pay damages.

The principle of vicarious liability extends to principal-agent relationship. It states that a principal is liable for the wrongful acts of his agent. The conditions of liability were stated by the jurist Dal Pont as follows:

(1) the principal selects the agent and is assumed to have ascertained the strengths and weaknesses of the agent

(2) the principal has delegated some tasks to his agent and is thus gaining benefit of the agent's tasks.

So, friend here is acting as an agent of X while driving and respondeat superior applies.