McGowan v. Longwood

The plaintiff while in the exercise of due care walking on a public way in the city of Boston was struck and injured by an automobile owned and registered in the name of the defendant, but negligently driven by the defendant’s son Theodore, a minor and duly licensed operator. The question for decision is whether the defendant is responsible for his son’s negligence.

The jury would have been warranted in finding that the defendant bought the car for use as a “family car,” and that on the day in question the son, who lived at home, without his father’s knowledge obtained the keys to the garage,…