SUAREZ, J.
The Appellant, Sandy Rivers, as Personal Representative and on behalf of the Estate of Bennie C. Rivers, Jr., appeals from an Order denying her motion to vacate the order granting Hertz Corporation's ("Hertz") Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Complaint with Prejudice as to Hertz only, and denying her leave to file a third amended complaint. We affirm.
Bennie C. Rivers was killed in a car accident while a passenger in a 2008 Corvette Chevrolet rented and driven by Appellee, William A. Walker, IV ("Walker"). According to the police report, a witness stated Walker collided with another vehicle after traveling fast and swerving through traffic. Unbeknownst to Hertz, the lessor of the vehicle, Walker's driver's license had been suspended from a speeding ticket he received in another state. The Appellant filed a wrongful death action against Hertz and sought recovery on the basis of negligence.
In her second amended complaint, the Appellant claimed Hertz had the affirmative duty to investigate and discover Walker's suspended driver's license. The trial court dismissed this complaint with prejudice based on the conclusion that section 322.38, Florida Statutes (2009), only required that Hertz inspect the license to verify the signature.
The threshold issue in this case is whether Hertz had a duty to perform a background check into the status of Walker's driver's license.
Under the Graves Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 30106, if there is no negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the owner of rental vehicles, the owner shall not be liable by reason of being the titleholder of the vehicle. See Vargas v. Enter. Leasing Co., 60 So.3d 1037, 1041-1042 (Fla.2011), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 769, 181 L.Ed.2d 486 (2011). Duty is a question of law that "focuses on whether the defendant's conduct foreseeably created a broader `zone of risk' that poses a general threat of harm to others." McCain v. Fla. Power Corp., 593 So.2d 500, 502 n. 2 (Fla.1992). Hertz was negligent if it failed to perform its duty under section 322.38. However, Hertz owed a duty of care beyond that imposed by section 322.38 if it "knew or should have known some reason why entrusting the
Because there is no claim that Hertz failed to perform its statutory duty under section 322.38 to compare signatures, our analysis will focus on whether Hertz knew or should have known that Walker's driver's license was deficient.
The Appellant relies on Tellez v. Saban, 188 Ariz. 165, 933 P.2d 1233 (1996). Tellez is distinguishable from the present case because the lessor in that case had actual knowledge at the time of the rental that the driver did not possess a valid driver's license. Id. at 1238-39. However, in this case, the Appellant failed to allege any facts that Hertz knew or should have known Walker was an unfit driver when he presented a facially valid driver's license. Absent any facts to demonstrate Hertz had some knowledge of the deficient driver's license, there can be no duty imposed upon Hertz to investigate and discover Walker's suspended driver's license. See Noris v. Silver, 701 So.2d 1238, 1241 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (affirming a dismissal for negligent referral because the plaintiff failed to allege that the defendant had knowledge of any facts that would indicate the lawyer would commit malpractice).
As to the issue of whether Hertz proximately caused the injury, the court in Jackson v. Hertz Corp., 590 So.2d 929, 931 n. 3 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), explained that "[e]ven if Hertz had violated the terms of section 322.38(2), its failure to comply with
The trial court properly denied the Appellant's motion to vacate the dismissal of her second amended complaint with prejudice, as to Hertz only. The proposed third amended complaint will not save the Appellant's failure to state a cause of action in her second amended complaint. The third amended complaint continues to claim Hertz had a duty beyond that stated in section 322.38 without pleading facts to justify the imposition of a further duty to investigate and discover the suspended license. "Denial of a request to amend an amended complaint is not error when the complaint will not state a cause of action even if it includes the proffered amendment." Wolfson v. Moye, 214 So.2d 629, 630 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968). The trial court's denial of leave to file a third amended complaint was not an abuse of discretion and we affirm.
Hertz has also cited to other jurisdictions that have made similar determinations: Cousin v. Enterprise Leasing Company-South Central, Inc., 948 So.2d 1287 (Miss.2007); Henderson v. Your Kar Express Rentals, Inc., 2009 WL 1900395, *3 (Del.Super.Ct.2009); Young v. U-Haul Co. of D.C., 11 A.3d 247, 248 (D.C.2011); and, DeRosa v. Evans, 2011 WL 5531045, *2 n. 2 (Conn.Super.Ct.2011).