Whenever any motor vehicle shall be used, operated, or caused to be operated upon any public highway of this state with the consent of the owner, lessee, or bailee, expressed or implied, the driver of it, if other than the owner, lessee, or bailee, shall in the case of an accident be deemed to be the agent of the owner, lessee, or bailee, of the motor vehicle unless the driver shall have furnished proof of financial responsibility in the amount set forth in chapter 32 of this title, prior to the accident. For the purposes of this section, the term “owner” includes any person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation having the lawful possession or control of a motor vehicle under a written sale agreement.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-33-6
Owner’s liability for acts of others
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. Moore (2014)
Most recently applied in Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. Moore (August 2014)
P.L. 1952, ch. 3002, § 38; G.L. 1956, § 31-31-3; P.L. 1962, ch. 204, § 2; G.L. 1956, § 31-33-6; P.L. 2003, ch. 115, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 117, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 219, § 5; P.L. 2…
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Rhode Island General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Rhode Island statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.