Does a permitted driver have to remain in possession of a vehicle?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Henwood v. Coburn, 2006 CanLII 27869 (ON SC):
The cases referred to stand for the principle that where the permitted driver remains an occupant in the vehicle and either specifically allows the non-permitted driver to drive the car or acquiesces to the driver using the car, the permitted driver continues to remain in possession of the vehicle, and the owner will remain liable. Where, as in Thorne v. Prets, the permitted driver is deprived of possession while asleep, the non-permitted driver thereby takes possession without the consent of either the owner or the permitted driver and, accordingly, the permitted driver is no longer in possession of the car and the owner will not be liable.
The question of whether a motor vehicle was in the possession of some other person without the owner's consent is a question of fact to be decided by the evidence in each particular case. See: Thorne v. Prets, supra.
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