Laws vary from state to state, but in states that recognize a claim for negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle, the plaintiff generally must show that:

• the owner of the vehicle entrusted the vehicle to another person;

• the person to whom the motor vehicle was entrusted was an unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless driver;

• at the time of the entrustment, the owner of the motor vehicle knew or should have known that the person to whom the motor vehicle was entrusted was an unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless driver;

• the person to whom the motor vehicle was entrusted was negligent on the occasion in question; and

• the negligence of the person to whom the motor vehicle was entrusted proximately caused the accident.

Even the lack of a required legal license does not establish incompetence or recklessness. Whether a driver has a license does not determine whether a driver is in fact incompetent. Some incompetent drivers are licensed, and some competent drivers are unlicensed.

If a state’s statutes require an operator of a given motor vehicle to be legally licensed to operate it, then permitting the driver to operate it without a legal license may constitute negligence per se.

Although state laws require licensing to operate some motor vehicles (automobiles), they often do not require licensing to operate other motor vehicles (forklifts). In the absence of a licensing requirement, the plaintiff must show the defendant knew or should have known the operator of the motor vehicle was incompetent or reckless, not that he was uncertified or lacked formal training to operate the motor vehicle.

In Ohio, the concept of negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle is recognized and can be a basis for liability in a personal injury lawsuit. Under Ohio law, a claim for negligent entrustment arises when the owner of a vehicle entrusts it to a person who is unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless, and the owner knew or should have known of that person's inability to operate the vehicle safely. The elements that must be proven include: (1) the vehicle owner entrusted the vehicle to another; (2) the person entrusted was unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless; (3) the owner knew or should have known of the person's incapacity at the time of entrustment; (4) the entrusted person was negligent; and (5) this negligence was the proximate cause of the accident. In Ohio, allowing an unlicensed individual to operate a motor vehicle when a license is legally required could be considered negligence per se. However, for vehicles that do not require a license to operate, such as forklifts, the focus would be on proving the operator's incompetence or recklessness rather than the lack of a formal license or certification.