Widow loses to car rental company, but judge warns industry over record-keeping

A widow who sued a Jamaican car rental company after her husband’s death has lost her case, but the Supreme Court has warned the industry over poor documentation of vehicle safety.

In a March 10 judgment, Justice Tania Mott Tulloch-Reid dismissed the negligence and breach-of-contract claims brought by Pearline Boothe against Bargain Rent-A-Car (Jamaica) Limited.

However, while the court ruled in favour of the company, the judge raised serious concerns about the absence of critical maintenance records and the company’s failure to provide evidence of vehicle servicing before renting it to customers.

" I find it very surprising that the defendant was unable to find the service log for the vehicle...," she said.

The 2016 lawsuit stemmed from a May 19, 2013 accident in which 54-year-old mechanic Lester Boothe, Pearline husband, lost his life when a rented 15-seater bus crashed along the Tower Isle main road in St Mary after a tyre burst. He was a passenger.

Boothe, the administrator of her husband’s estate, argued that the accident was caused by defective tyres, which the rental company allegedly failed to inspect or replace. They rented the car on May 14.

According to the widow’s testimony, she and her husband, both visiting from overseas for her mom's birthday and sister's wedding, had rented the vehicle for family transportation while in Jamaica.

They used it for several days before the crash without issue, but on the day of the accident, the tyre suddenly blew out, sending the bus off the road and into a ditch. The driver Aldin Stephenson also testified at the trial.

Boothe's attorneys also claimed that the motor vehicle had travelled in excess of 49,000 kilometres "over a short period of time" without evidence that the tyres had changed. The judge dismissed that early as "speculation".

Boothe, who was also injured in the crash, claimed the company breached its duty to provide a safe vehicle and sought damages under the Fatal Accidents Act and the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.

Bargain Rent-A-Car denied any negligence, arguing that the vehicle had been in good condition when rented.

The company’s only witness, Danya Dacres, who was the fleet manager at the time, testified that the bus was purchased new in 2011 from Toyota Jamaica, and had a valid certificate of fitness at the time of the crash.

However, under cross-examination, Dacres admitted that the company could not locate the service logs for the vehicle, leaving the court with no records to confirm when it was last maintained or whether the tyres had ever been replaced.

The company also disclosed that while it had an internal investigation report claiming that the bus had no defects, the report was never submitted to the court.

Despite the gaps in documentation, Justice Tulloch-Reid found that Boothe failed to prove that the accident was caused by a pre-existing defect in the tyres rather than external factors such as road conditions, improper inflation, or usage.

The court ruled that while it accepted that a tyre burst had occurred, there was no evidence that the tyre was defective when the vehicle was rented or that a defective tyre was the cause of the accident. "As such their case in negligence against the defendant must fail," the judge ruled.

She said, "Although the court is sympathetic to their loss, the court must make decisions based on the evidence that is placed before it and how the law says that evidence is to be treated with. The law is clear. He who asserts must prove".

Boothe was also ordered to pay legal costs to Bargain Rent-A-Car.

Despite ruling in favour of Bargain Rent-A-Car, the judge rebuked the company over the lack of basic documentation about its servicing records.

“I find it very surprising that the defendant was unable to find the service log for the vehicle, that its representative at the time of checking off the vehicle did not check the condition the tyres were in, that the maintenance manager was not called as a witness... and that the investigator’s report was not disclosed to the court,” Justice Tulloch-Reid stated.

The judge said car rental companies must be able to prove that their vehicles are roadworthy when leased to customers.

“Companies of this nature must keep very good records. They are offering a service to the public which could result in the death of persons, as has happened in this case, and they therefore have a duty to ensure that their vehicles are very well maintained and there are records to prove that this is so, especially in circumstances where their motor vehicles are very heavily driven.”

The judge further urged the industry to prioritise proper documentation, warning rental firms that “the service and general maintenance of vehicles which cover many kilometres over a short period of time, and which service and maintenance are properly recorded, must be the priority of rental car companies, and they are so warned to take care.”

Boothe was represented by attorneys Mark Wallen and Janet Simpson while the case for Bargain Rent-A-Car was led by attorneys Monroe Wisdom and Houston Thompson instructed by the firm Nunes Scholefield DeLeon and Co.

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