Had a 2021 Broward claim where a guest driver hit a pedestrian on an HOA cart path, and plaintiff pushed owner vicarious liability under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine… Does that reach unregistered golf carts off public roads, or is it limited to street-legal use — looking to lock down the analysis before I sign off and would appreciate any case cites or carve-outs you’ve successfully relied.
Had almost the same in a 2020 Broward HOA path hit — the judge treated the cart as a dangerous instrumentality off-road; Meister v. Fisher, 462 So.2d 1071, and Aurbach v. Gallina back that, so it isn’t tied to street-legal use. My practical fix is to nail down permissive use and the HOA’s ‘no guest drivers’ rule in writing, which once knocked out owner vicarious when the borrower wasn’t authorized, @OP.
In my 2021 Broward HOA-path case, owner liability stuck; ‘consent’ was decisive — check Graves Amendment if rented, @rachel_evans63.
Guest driver? ‘Registration’s irrelevant — consent controls under Susco’; Graves only if it’s a rental, @rachel_evans63.
At 9:00 in Dept. 22, I toggle Brief It (PWREUF) and drop ‘>>’ + {TIME} with TKPWUP.
, the private-path argument keeps popping up and it drives me nuts — owner liability still attached on a Naples claim even with an unregistered cart off-road; Meister v. Fisher treats carts as dangerous instrumentalities. You still have the narrow ‘theft/conversion’ escape per Susco, but minor deviation won’t help, and Graves only matters if it’s truly rented.
Quick example from a Palm Beach file: we beat the HOA-path defense by locking down owner consent via HOA rules and texts, then leaning on Meister v. Fisher — unregistered/off-road didn’t change DI. > ‘theft/conversion’ escape per Susco, but minor deviation won’t help, and Graves only matters if it’s a true rental — so I front-load RFAs to pin consent; @jparker321, see anything I’m missing?
On a Broward file I worked, we still tagged the owner on a cart‑path pedestrian hit; the difference-maker was locking down permission via HOA guest wristband logs and text threads — “consent is the ignition switch.” For support beyond the standard golf‑cart case, I cite Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson and Kraemer v. GMAC, 572 So.2d 1363 (Fla.