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 North Dakota, as in other states that recognize negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle, a plaintiff must establish several elements to succeed in a claim. These elements include proving that the vehicle owner entrusted their vehicle to another person, that the entrusted individual was unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless, and that the owner knew or should have known about the individual's inability to safely operate the vehicle at the time of entrustment. Additionally, the plaintiff must show that the entrusted individual was negligent at the time of the accident and that this negligence was the proximate cause of the accident. In North Dakota, simply operating a vehicle without a required legal license does not automatically prove incompetence or recklessness. However, if state statutes mandate a legal license for operating a specific type of motor vehicle, allowing an unlicensed individual to operate it may be considered negligence per se. For motor vehicles that do not require a license to operate, such as forklifts, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the owner should have known of the operator's incompetence or recklessness, rather than focusing on certification or formal training.