Case Title: Pearson v. Erb

Citation: 82 N.W.2d 818

Docket Number: 

State: north-dakota

Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Date: 1957-04-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
82 N.W.2d 818 (1957) Donald E. PEARSON, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Paul ERB and Omar Erb, Defendants and Cross-Appellants. No. 7670. Supreme Court of North Dakota. April 10, 1957. Rehearing Denied May 16, 1957. *820 Burnett, Bergesen, Whittlesey, Shermoen & Pancratz, Fargo, for plaintiff and appellant. Wattam, Vogel, Vogel, Bright & Peterson, Fargo, for defendants and cross-appellants. MORRIS, Judge. This is an action by the plaintiff to recover for damage to his automobile and personal injuries sustained by him in a collision of an automobile owned by the plaintiff in which he was riding and driven by his wife with one owned by the defendant Omar Erb and driven with his permission by the defendant Paul Erb on a public highway in the State of Minnesota on November 26, 1953. Omar Erb, who was not an occupant of his automobile, counterclaimed for damages to his car and for medical expense incurred for attention to injuries sustained by his minor daughter Dorothy Erb who was a passenger in his automobile. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and against both defendants in the sum of $5,588.27 and in favor of the defendant Omar Erb against the plaintiff in the sum of $363.05. The defendants having moved for a directed verdict at the close of the evidence made a motion in the alternative for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict of the jury or for a new trial. The trial court denied the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and granted the motion for a new trial upon the ground of certain specified errors of law occurring at the trial. The plaintiff has appealed from that part of the trial court's order granting the new trial. The defendants have appealed from that part of the order denying their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The following facts appear from the testimony of the plaintiff and his wife: They are residents of Fargo, North Dakota. At about 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1953, the plaintiff, his wife, and three small children left Fargo in the plaintiff's automobile. The purpose of the trip was one of pleasure. Their destination was the home of the plaintiff's parents about five miles north of Park Rapids, Minnesota, where they expected to have Thanksgiving dinner. The plaintiff used his car in his business as a salesman and also as a family car. The plaintiff's wife also owned an automobile which she used to drive around town. They took the plaintiff's car as they usually did in making long trips because it was in better mechanical condition than the car belonging to the wife. The wife got into the driver's seat at home without any request by or agreement with her husband as to who should drive He sat beside her and held the youngest child who was about a year old. She drove without stopping to a point about nine miles northeast of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, on Highway Number 34 where the accident happened. It occurred at about ten o'clock a.m. The visibility was clear and the highway, a blacktop or tarvia surface, was dry. It was about twenty or twenty-five feet wide. The general terrain in the vicinity of the accident *821 was hilly. The plaintiff's car overtook another car driven by Paul Erb near the bottom of a small hill. Plaintiff's wife was driving about 55 or 60 miles an hour. The Erb car was traveling about 45 miles per hour. As she approached the Erb car she slowed down to about 45 miles per hour also and followed the Erb car up the hill. She states: As she swung in the collision took place. The right front corner of her car struck the left rear corner of the Erb car. She saw no other signal from the Erb car other than the brake lights go on. She was about three car lengths from that car when the lights appeared. The Erb car slowed down preparatory to making a left turn into a church driveway at the top of the hill. The driver of the Erb car gave no signal of intention to turn. His car was still in the right traffic lane when it was struck but had moved to the left near the center line, probably one or two feet from it. The plaintiff's car was moving about twenty miles and defendants' car about five miles an hour at the time of impact. Plaintiff's wife drove his car frequently. When asked how she happened to be driving at the time of the accident, she said: "Well, both my husband and I like to drive, and I just happened to be driving, I guess." The plaintiff and his wife had driven to his parents' home eight or nine times a year for the past six or seven years. They had shared the driving. It appears to have been customary for one of them to drive one way and the other to drive on the return trip. She stated: The plaintiff gave his wife no instructions with respect to her manner of driving. In cross-examination on the question of his right to control the operation of the car, the following appears: The defendant Omar Erb lives with his family on a farm near Amenia, North Dakota. On the morning of the accident the defendant Paul Erb, who was twenty years of age, and his three teen age sisters took their father's car with his consent to go to the church that has been mentioned as being near the scene of the accident. On the way they stopped at Casselton, North Dakota, and picked up a fourth girl who accompanied them on the trip. Paul readily admits that he failed to signal as he was about to make a left turn into the church driveway at the time of the collision. The accident having happened in the State of Minnesota, the liabilities of the parties must be determined according to laws of that state. Cyclopedia of Automobile Law and Practice, Blashfield, Volume 9, Section 5791. And in the following section it is said: Subdivision 5 of Section 169.19, M.S.A., as amended by Laws 1947, Chapter 428, Section 16, provides: Minnesota has a statute known as the Safety Responsibility Act, Chapter 170, M.S.A., which has replaced the family purpose doctrine. That doctrine is no longer in operation in that state. Ellingboe v. Guerin, 228 Minn. 211, 36 N.W.2d 598; Jacobsen v. Dailey, 228 Minn. 201, 36 N.W.2d 711, 712, 11 A.L.R.2d 1429. M.S.A. § 170.54 provides that whenever any motor vehicle shall be operated upon any public street or highway by any person other than the owner with the consent of the owner, express or implied, the operator shall in case of accident be deemed the agent of the owner in the operation of the motor vehicle. In Jacobsen v. Dailey, supra, that statute was construed and held Jacobsen v. Dailey involved a collision between two automobiles each driven by the owner's son for his own purposes. It was held that the owner was responsible for each driver's negligence under the Safety Responsibility Act; that the statute does not constitute the bailee the owner's agent except for the purpose of creating the limited liability for which it provides; and that the contributory negligence of the drivers was not imputable to the owners. It was further held proper for the trial court to instruct that: In the case before us the trial court instructed the jury in accordance with the Minnesota statute as construed in the above decision with the result that a verdict was returned against both the driver and the owner of the Erb car for plaintiff's personal injuries and damages to his car and in favor of the owner of the Erb car against the plaintiff for damages to that car. In order to reach that verdict the jury must have determined: 1. That both drivers were negligent. 2. That the relationship of bailor and bailee existed between the owner and the driver of the Erb car. 3. That the relationship of bailor and bailee existed between the plaintiff, as owner, and his wife, the driver of the plaintiff's car, and that the wife's negligence was, therefore, not imputable to the plaintiff. Under the instructions given it is also apparent that the jury found that the plaintiff was not negligent. In support of their contention that the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict should be granted, the defendants *823 argue that the evidence shows as a matter of law that the plaintiff, riding beside his wife and observing her conduct in driving up the hill in close proximity to the defendants' car, was negligent in not controlling or attempting to control her conduct and thereby acquiesced and became a party to her negligence not by imputation but by his own conduct. This contention cannot be sustained. We have examined the evidence carefully on this point and it is clear to us that the question of the plaintiff's negligence was for the jury and it cannot be said that he was negligent as a matter of law. The trial court instructed the jury that if they found both drivers guilty of negligence which proximately contributed to cause the collision and that the plaintiff's wife was acting as his agent or servant in the operation of his automobile then her contributory negligence is imputable to him and bars his recovery. He also instructed the jury that if they found that the plaintiff retained any right of control over the operation of the automobile and if they further found that his wife was negligent in its operation and that such negligence constituted a proximate cause of the accident, the jury must find for the defendants as to the plaintiff's claim for damages. The defendants contend that under the evidence in this case it is established as a matter of law that the plaintiff's wife was acting as his agent and the jury having found that she was guilty of contributory negligence, that negligence is imputable to her husband as her principal and bars his right to recover. The determination of the question thus presented is not without difficulty. It has been before various courts on similar or comparable facts with varying results. Where a person drives an automobile with the permission of the owner, the driver may be a bailee or he may be a servant or agent of the owner depending on who has the right of control. In Frankle v. Twedt, 234 Minn. 42, 47 N.W.2d 482, 487, it is said: That the right of control rather than the exercise of the right is the determining factor in establishing the existence of the relation of principal and agent or master and servant in such cases appears to be the general rule. Mendolia v. White, 313 Mass. 318, 47 N.E.2d 294; Guy v. Union Street Railway Co., 289 Mass. 225, 193 N.E. 740; Parks v. Pere Marquette Railway Co., 315 Mich. 38, 23 N.W.2d 196; James v. Ellis, 44 Wash. 2d 599, 269 P.2d 573; Hammonds v. Haven, Mo., 280 S.W.2d 814; Tschida v. Dorle, 235 Minn. 461, 51 N.W.2d 561. In Gochee v. Wagner, 257 N.Y. 344, 178 N.E. 553, 554, the wife who was driving her husband's automobile with his permission had driven to the city to get her mother and on the way home stopped and picked up her husband who was at his father's house. He sat on the rear seat. On the way home, and while the wife was driving, an accident occurred in which the husband was injured. In denying his right to recover, the court said: This decision represents the majority view taken by courts dealing with similar situations. Angel v. McClean, 173 Tenn. 191, 116 S.W.2d 1005; Wilcott v. Ley, 205 Wis. 155, 236 N.W. 593; Guy v. Union Street Railway Co., 289 Mass. 225, 193 N.E. 740; Challinor v. Axton, 246 Ky. 76, 54 S.W.2d 600; Lucey v. Allen, 44 R.I. 379, 117 A. 539; Kelly v. Hanwick, 228 Ala. 336, 153 So. 269. In Mendolia v. White, 313 Mass. 318, 47 N.E.2d 294, 296, it is said: The Supreme Court of Nebraska in Bartek v. Glasers Provisions Co. Inc., 160 Neb. 794, 71 N.W.2d 466, 474, appears to have taken a different view, with the chief justice dissenting. In that case it appears that the car in which the plaintiff-owner was riding was driven by her husband at the plaintiff's request. They were on their way to the home of plaintiff's sister when the accident occurred. The plaintiff did not operate her car. Her husband operated it for her when she went some place. In the majority opinion it is said: In Christensen v. Hennepin Transportation Co. Inc., 215 Minn. 394, 10 N.W.2d 406, 412, 147 A.L.R. 945, it appears that the wife was injured while riding in an automobile of which the husband and wife were co-owners. The court points out that the owner of an automobile may be the operator's guest and in such a situation the operator's contributory negligence is not imputable to the owner unless the operator is the owner's servant or agent or they are engaged in a joint enterprise. The husband was in the potato business. After dinner he decided to go to look after the fire to protect his potatoes from freezing. He asked her to go along. After she got in the car he suggested that they go over to her mother's. It was on the way to her mother's that the collision took place in which the plaintiff was injured. The opinion *825 discloses no other evidence with reference to the control of the automobile. The court states: The jury had found in favor of the plaintiff. The court further said: The court severely criticized the opinion in Gochee v. Wagner, from which we have quoted above, and said: "The decision should not be followed, because it ignores the actual relationship of the parties at the time of collision, by which the rights of the parties should be determined, and thus applies an arbitrary rule without regard to those which otherwise should control, and because it is opposed to the weight of authority." The Minnesota court seems to place reliance upon Rodgers v. Saxton, 305 Pa. 479, 158 A. 166, 168, 80 A.L.R. 280, from which it quotes the following: This quotation gave us some concern until we read the illuminating opinion of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Beam v. Pittsburgh Railways Co., 366 Pa. 360, 77 A.2d 634, 639, wherein previous Pennsylvania cases dealing with the imputation of negligence of the driver of an automobile to the owner who is an occupant of the automobile at the time of the accident are carefully reviewed. Following the review the court says: In Ross v. Burgan, 163 Ohio St. 211, 126 N.E.2d 592, an action was brought for injuries sustained by a wife when an automobile which she owned and in which she was riding but which was being driven by her husband was rammed from behind by another automobile. In the syllabus by the court it is stated that: The rule thus stated we believe represents the view of the majority of courts that have dealt with this problem. The application of the rule is not affected by the fact that the owner and driver are husband and wife. Fox v. Lavender, 89 Utah 115, 56 P.2d 1049, 109 A.L.R. 105. We find nothing in the case of Christensen v. Hennepin Transportation Co. Inc., supra, that indicates that a different rule prevails in Minnesota. We would also bear in mind that while the relationship of the owner and driver of plaintiff's car with respect to liability must be determined in accordance with the law of the state in which the accident occurred, the sufficiency of the evidence to establish the essential facts upon which the verdict is based must be determined by the law of the forum. Franklin v. Minneapolis, St. P. & S. S. M. Ry. Co., 179 Minn. 480, 229 N.W. 797; Rowe v. Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, 2 Cir., 231 F.2d 922; Boland v. Love, 95 U.S.App.D.C. 337, 222 F.2d 27. Hutzler v. McDonnell, 239 Wis. 568, 2 N.W.2d 207, 210, involved an action by a guest against her host for damages sustained in Minnesota when the host's automobile left the highway and went into the ditch. After determining that the liability *827 of the defendant host was to be determined by the laws of Minnesota, the Wisconsin court went on to say: When the trip started the plaintiff as owner had the right to control the use of his automobile. He assented in her assumption of the driver's position behind the wheel while he occupied the seat beside her. Under the rule that we have discussed this situation gave rise to the presumption that he had control over the automobile as its owner and his wife was acting as his agent in operating it. Their relationship as husband and wife is as consistent with agency as it is with bailment and cannot give rise to an inference that one existed in preference to the other. Neither can an inference with respect to control arise from the fact that they had previously made similar trips under the same circumstances. Their mission was as much or more for his benefit as for hers. Throughout the trip he committed no act or made no statement indicating that he relinquished control. Neither did she do or say anything inconsistent with his right of control. There is nothing in this record which could give rise to an inference that he became either a bailor or a guest in his own car. There is no evidence to rebut the presumption that as the owner and occupant of his car he had control over it and that his wife was acting as his agent in operating it. It is clear that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. The contributory negligence of the driver is imputed to the plaintiff as a matter of law and bars his recovery. It follows that the court erred in denying defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and in ordering a new trial. That order is reversed and the case is remanded with directions to enter an appropriate order conformable hereto. GRIMSON, C. J., and SATHRE, JOHNSON and BURKE, JJ., concur.