Man Claims Enterprise Rented Him a Vehicle While He was Drunk Leading to Fatal Crash

A man who has been convicted in a fatal 2013 car crash claims that he was drunk when he rented the vehicle that was later involved in the crash. 

TampaBay.com reports that in March 2013 Felix Luis C. Rodriguez rented a vehicle from Enterprise Rent-A-Car business at 5402 N Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. Hours after renting the vehicle Rodriguez was driving on Interstate 95 in the Jacksonville area at a high rate of speed when he noticed a Ford Mustang in his path. After flashing his lights in an attempt to cause the Mustang to move out of the way, Rodriguez saw that the car would not move in time and he attempted to overtake it while going approximately 100 miles per hour. This caused Rodriguez to swerve to avoid another car and go off the road, striking a tree and killing his sister, and severely injuring his mother.

In a recently filed lawsuit, Rodriguez claims that Enterprise and the employee who served him were negligent. He alleges that he was drunk when he rented the vehicle, writing “At the time of the rental I was heavily intoxicated and was not fit to legally drive,” in an affidavit. He also claimes that he did not have a valid driver’s license at the time he rented the vehicle and used his brother’s license to obtain the rental. 

The TampaBay.com report indicates that Florida Highway Patrol performed a sobriety test on Rodriguez after the crash and found his BAC to be below the legal limit. 

Enterprise declined to comment on the pending litigation. 

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