Under the right set of facts, the owner of a car can be liable for the driver’s actions. CLICK HERE. So you ask, just who is the “owner” of a vehicle in Nevada for liability purposes?
This precise issue was raised in the Nevada Supreme Court case of Barr v. Gaines, 103 Nev. 548, 746 P.2d 634 (1987). In Barr, an injured motorist brought suit against the father of the driver of a car, arguing that, as the registered owner of the car, the father was vicariously liable. The father argued against liability, stating that he had transferred his interest in the subject vehicle to his son prior to the accident and had the documents to prove the sale.
The court looked to N.R.S. 482.085 for a definition of the word “owner”.
N.R.S. 482.085 “Owner” defined. “Owner” means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle and whose name appears on the certificate of title, and any lienholder whose name appears on the certificate of title. If a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with or without the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or if a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter.
The father prevailed in spite of the fact that the father’s name was still on the “legal title”. The court found that the failure of the transferee son to comply with Nevada’s registration statute did not invalidate the transfer of the father’s title to his son, nor did it render the father the owner of the vehicle for purposes of the family purpose statute.