Smith v. Cincinnati Insurance Co.

CIVIL TRANSFER

RUCKER, Justice.

An underage driver crashed the car of her intoxicated friend while attempting to drive the friend home in the car purportedly with the friend’s permission. The question we address is whether the level of intoxication has a bearing on the ability of an intoxicated would-be driver to give permission to another to operate her car. We hold that it does not.

Facts and Procedural History

Eighteen-year-old Natalie Deem owned a car insured by the Cincinnati Insurance Company. While out late one evening with fifteen-year-old Courtney Smith, Deem became extremely…