How the Criminal Law Affects You is a recurring series from The Rodriguez Law Office that translates Florida’s criminal statutes into everyday terms. This edition’s question: when you lend your car and someone else is behind the wheel, what exactly are you on the hook for?
You hand your keys to your son, your friend, your roommate. It is one of the most ordinary things you can do with property you own. Florida law does not treat it as ordinary. When someone else drives your car, three separate bodies of criminal law can reach you: a statute that makes the loan itself a crime in some circumstances, a DUI impoundment scheme that punishes your vehicle for the borrower’s conviction, and a forfeiture act that lets the government take the car outright when it is used in a felony. This article walks through each one, in the order you are most likely to meet them.
Is It a Crime Just to Lend Someone Your Car?
It can be. Section 322.36, Florida Statutes, says:
A person may not authorize or knowingly permit a motor vehicle owned by him or her or under his or her dominion or control to be operated upon any highway or public street except by a person who is duly authorized to operate a motor vehicle under this chapter.
Two phrases do the work. “Duly authorized to operate a motor vehicle under this chapter” means a person holding a valid driver license under chapter 322 — so the statute is aimed at lending your car to an unlicensed driver or a driver whose license is suspended or revoked. And “knowingly permit” is the knowledge element: the State must prove you knew you were handing the keys to someone who was not authorized to drive. A violation is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by “a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 60 days” under section 775.082(4)(b) and a fine of up to $500 under section 775.083(1)(e). Also, section 322.36 carries a sting beyond the criminal penalty: if you knowingly loan your car to a driver with a suspended license and that car is involved in an accident causing bodily injury or death, your own driver license is suspended for one year.
What Happens to My Car When the Borrower Picks Up a DUI?
This is where owners get blindsided. When a driver is convicted of DUI, section 316.193(6)(a) requires the court, as a condition of probation, to order “the impoundment or immobilization of the vehicle that was operated by or in the actual control of the defendant or any one vehicle registered in the defendant’s name at the time of impoundment or immobilization.” Read that language carefully. The statute reaches the vehicle that was driven — not just vehicles the defendant owns. If your friend gets a DUI in your car, your car is the one the court can order impounded: 10 days for a first conviction, 30 days for a second conviction within 5 years, and 90 days for a third conviction within 10 years.
The statute does contain escape hatches for non-driving owners, but note what they cover. Paragraph (6)(e) protects you if the car was stolen or if you bought it after the offense from someone other than the defendant. Paragraph (6)(f) protects a purchaser who bought the car directly from the defendant without knowledge of the offense. Note what the statute does not say: there is no paragraph that dismisses the impoundment merely because you lent the car innocently. The lender’s practical route is paragraph (6)(g):
The court shall also dismiss the order of impoundment or immobilization of the vehicle if the court finds that the family of the owner of the vehicle has no other private or public means of transportation.
This is important because the impoundment costs fall on the vehicle owner unless the order is dismissed. If someone else’s DUI has your car sitting in a lot, the hardship hearing is not optional paperwork — it is how you get your car back.
Can the State Take My Car for Good?
Yes, in the worst case. Under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, sections 932.701–932.706, a vehicle used in the commission of a felony can be seized as a contraband article and forfeited — a civil proceeding that runs alongside, and separate from, the borrower’s criminal case. The Act builds in real protection for owners who had nothing to do with the crime. Section 932.703 provides that property “may not be forfeited under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act unless the seizing agency establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the owner either knew, or should have known after a reasonable inquiry, that the property was being employed or was likely to be employed in criminal activity.” The burden sits on the agency, not on you. But the phrase “should have known after a reasonable inquiry” matters: lending your car to someone you have reason to believe is dealing drugs is exactly the kind of fact an agency will use against an innocent-owner claim. And to actually win a forfeiture at trial, section 932.704(8) requires the agency to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt that the contraband article was being used in violation of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act.” That is the criminal standard applied to a civil taking — a high bar, and a defensible one.
Who Owns What Gets Left in the Car?
One more trap, and it cuts both ways. When police find contraband in a vehicle, the State can proceed on actual possession (the item was on the person) or constructive possession — which requires proof that the accused knew the item was present and had dominion and control over it. Lend your car out and you may get it back with something in the console you never knew about; borrow a car and you are driving inches from whatever the owner left under the seat. Where a car is not exclusively yours, mere proximity to contraband is not enough to convict — but expect the arrest to come first and the legal argument to come later, with a lawyer making it.
How Does This Play Out Here at Home?
Take three local scenarios. First, the teenager: your newly licensed 17-year-old takes the family sedan down SR 60 and picks up a DUI. On conviction, that sedan — titled to you — faces the 10-day impoundment, and your remedy is the section 316.193(6)(g) hearing in front of a Bartow judge showing the family has no other way to get to work and school. Second, the friend who “just needs it for the weekend”: he takes your truck down US 27 toward Sebring, gets stopped in Highlands County, and a deputy finds a felony amount of drugs in the door pocket. Now you are dealing with a forfeiture complaint on the truck and he is dealing with a constructive possession fight — and what you knew about him becomes the center of your innocent-owner claim. Third, the roommate with the suspended license: section 322.36 turns on the word “knowingly.” The State must prove you knowingly permitted your car to be operated by someone not duly authorized to drive. If you knew the license was suspended when you handed over the keys, that element is met, and you — not just the roommate — have a criminal case in county court.
Is the Criminal Side the Whole Story?
No. Florida’s civil courts have treated the automobile as a “dangerous instrumentality” since Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 80 Fla. 441, 86 So. 629 (1920), which means an owner who entrusts a vehicle to another driver can be held civilly liable for that driver’s negligent operation. That is lawsuit exposure, entirely separate from everything above, and it deserves its own conversation with a civil attorney. This article is about the criminal side — and the criminal side alone is reason enough to pause. Handing over your keys is one of the most ordinary things you can do. Florida law treats it as a legal decision. Make it like one: know who is driving, know their license status, and know what is in the car.
Statutes & sources in this article
Fla. Stat. § 322.36 — permitting unauthorized operator to drive. Fla. Stat. § 316.193 — DUI; vehicle impoundment and immobilization. Fla. Stat. § 775.082 and Fla. Stat. § 775.083 — misdemeanor penalties. Fla. Stat. § 932.701, Fla. Stat. § 932.703, and Fla. Stat. § 932.704 — Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Learn more about DUI defense at The Rodriguez Law Office.
Legally reviewed by Tonmiel Rodriguez — last reviewed July 20, 2026.
Tonmiel Rodriguez is a criminal defense attorney in Bartow and is Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law by The Florida Bar. He defends DUI and driving-related criminal cases across Polk, Highlands, Hardee, Osceola, and Hillsborough Counties. If a borrowed car has turned into a criminal case for you or someone in your family, call The Rodriguez Law Office at (863) 774-4556.