Traffic Accident Liability and Custody of Vehicle

A worker, injured in a traffic accident while driving a vehicle belonging to their employer for personal use outside of working hours, sued the employer for damages, asserting the employer bore civil liability for the damage caused by the thing in their custody. The Court of Cassation quashed the lower court's decision, ruling that the general presumption of responsibility for things in one's custody under Article 1384, paragraph 1 of the Civil Code does not apply when the thing's custody has been transferred to the driver, even if the vehicle remains the property of the employer, because the definitive control and management of the vehicle passed to the driver at the time of the accident.