“The Kentucky Court of Appeals yesterday ordered the dismissal of claims against a woman who had been found negligent for leaving her car keys within reach of an allegedly drunken friend who crashed her car.” After a night of drinking, Tina Cox had retired to bed while a friend stayed up. He then took her car keys from her purse and went for a drive, where he struck a pickup driven by Joseph Waits. Waits sued Cox (whether he sued the driver as well is not clear) and a judge ruled her 40 percent responsible for the resulting verdict, which consisted of roughly $220,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. According to the judge, Cox, knowing that her friend had previous DUI convictions, was negligent to have left her purse with the keys on a coffee table where he could get at it. The appeals court disagreed, noting Cox’s testimony that her friend had never previously driven her car without her permission. (Bruce Schreiner, “Court orders claims to be dropped in Shelby suit”, AP/Louisville Courier-Journal, Mar. 6).

Filed under: Kentucky, personal responsibility