Ex parte S & M, LLC, d/b/a Huntsville Cab Company. (In re S & M, LLC, d/b/a Huntsville Cab Company v. Kevin Burchel…

Summary

The court modified Alabama's vehicle-damage rule to permit a commercial-vehicle owner to recover reasonable loss-of-use damages when the vehicle is destroyed and a suitable replacement is not immediately available. It held that denying such damages would be inconsistent with the compensatory-damages objective of making the injured party whole and would irrationally distinguish destroyed vehicles from repairable ones. The court reversed and remanded with directions for further proceedings.