Case Title: Fishback v. Yale

Citation: 85 So. 2d 142

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1955-12-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
85 So. 2d 142 (1955)
Edward W. FISHBACK, Appellant,
v.
B.W. YALE, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Florida. En Banc.
December 14, 1955.
Rehearing Denied February 14, 1956.
Charles E. Davis of Fishback, Williams, Davis & Dominick, Orlando, for appellant.
Wilson Sanders of Sanders, McEwan & Berson, Orlando, for appellee.
McNEILL, Associate Justice.
Appellant, as plaintiff below, filed his complaint against the Appellee, and alleged (1) that about the 10th day of January, 1953, plaintiff was riding in a Cadillac automobile being driven by the defendant in a southerly direction on a dirt road, to-wit, the Long Bluff Road, to a gate across said road where it intersects the north boundary of A.A. Fiezl's land where it adjoins the Tosahatchee Game Preserve; (2) that defendant stopped his automobile approximately ten feet from the gate, and plaintiff got out to open a combination lock which secured the gate; (3) that while plaintiff was unlocking the gate, as aforesaid, the defendant negligently and carelessly drove and operated his car into and against plaintiff, and as a result thereof plaintiff's left leg was crushed and pinned against a fence post and plaintiff was injured as therein alleged;
Defendant's motion to dismiss, to strike and for definite statement was overruled and defendant by his answer admitted paragraph 1 of the complaint, and all of paragraph 2 except the words, "approximately ten feet from the gate" which he denied; and denied the allegations of paragraphs 3 and 4 of the complaint; charged that at the time and place alleged plaintiff so negligently and carelessly conducted himself that he contributed to the accident and to his injuries, if any; and by paragraph 6 *143 of the answer he alleged, "that at the time of the alleged incident the plaintiff, Edward W. Fishback and Robert McEwan were on a hunting trip on the Tosohatchee Game Preserve and the defendant, B.W. Yale, had accompanied the said plaintiff and Robert McEwan purely for the ride. The said B.W. Yale not being a member of said Game Preserve and therefore not being able to participate in the hunting trip. The plaintiff, Edward W. Fishback, and Robert McEwan met the defendant, B.W. Yale, at Fort Christmas and rode with the said B.W. Yale to the hunting camp at the Game Preserve. At the time of the alleged incident the said Robert McEwan and B.W. Yale were returning from the hunting camp to Fort Christmas and the said Edward W. Fishback was being transported by the said B.W. Yale as a guest passenger in the automobile of said defendant. That as part of said transportation from the hunting camp to Fort Christmas it was necessary to pass through the gate referred to in the complaint, which gate was locked with a combination lock, the combination of which was known only to said members of said Game Preserve. In order to complete the act of transportation in which the said B.W. Yale was engaging it was necessary to pass through said gate in order to continue on to Fort Christmas. That under the circumstances alleged in the complaint, the defendant B.W. Yale cannot be held liable to the plaintiff, Edward W. Fishback, except for gross negligence."
On April 13, 1954, plaintiff moved to strike the sixth paragraph of the defendant's said answer and defendant moved for summary judgment upon the depositions of the plaintiff, the defendant and Robert McEwan theretofore filed. By order of May 31, 1954, plaintiff's said motion to strike paragraph 6 of defendant's answer was denied, and on the same day defendant's motion for summary judgment was granted and final summary judgment was rendered in favor of defendant. From this judgment this appeal was taken, and appellant assigns as error that the trial court erred: In granting defendant's motion for summary judgment; and in entering said judgment; in finding defendant liable to plaintiff only for gross negligence; in finding there was no evidence legally sufficient to sustain a charge of gross negligence; in denying plaintiff's motion to strike defendant's sixth answer; in finding for defendant and against plaintiff and in finding plaintiff was a guest passenger in the automobile of the defendant.
It appears from the record that the judgment appealed from was rendered on the depositions of the plaintiff, the defendant and one Robert McEwan and from these depositions it appears that plaintiff and Robert McEwan were members of the Tosahatchee Hunting Club but defendant was not a member thereof; that only members of this club could hunt on the Club's preserve or property; that by arrangement between McEwan and defendant, defendant met plaintiff and McEwan at Fort Christmas where plaintiff and McEwan at defendant's invitation transferred into his Cadillac and defendant drove them to plaintiff's hunting camp at the hunting club where they transferred to plaintiff's jeep which plaintiff drove into the swamp where plaintiff and McEwan might hunt while defendant remained in the jeep until they returned thereto; whereupon, they then drove in plaintiff's jeep back to plaintiff's camp and there plaintiff and McEwan assisted defendant into defendant's car, and with defendant driving they all started back to Fort Christmas where plaintiff had left his car, and in order to leave the hunting club property it was necessary to open a gate located across the road they were traveling locked with a combination lock, the combination whereof was known only to members of the club and on arrival at the gate, defendant was driving his car, witness McEwan was (as stated by plaintiff and McEwan) sitting in the middle and plaintiff on the right side; plaintiff dismounted, unlocked the gate which swung open in the opposite direction from the car; it was dark and the headlights of the car were turned on, the car was stopped three to ten feet from the gate, and plaintiff was standing two or three feet off of the road to the right of the car; while plaintiff was unlocking the gate *144 witness McEwan and defendant were talking and witness McEwan did not realize the car had moved until it struck plaintiff. The road over which the car was being driven was a dirt road and not a public road and was wet in spots; plaintiff and witness McEwan did not pay defendant anything for transporting them to and from the hunting club and at the time of plaintiff's injury he and witness McEwan were being transported by defendant back to plaintiff's car at Fort Christmas and plaintiff testified that the car was headed straight to the gate; that he saw the car coming toward him rapidly and veering to the right; that he made an effort to move as fast as he could but before getting further than raising his left leg it was struck; that he had known the defendant about a year; that he had been places with him before; that no one was allowed to hunt on Tosahatchee except members; that defendant was not going to hunt there; and that the defendant just went along for the ride.
Witness McEwan testified in substance as above outlined except he stated they stopped around six feet from the gate and plaintiff got out to unlock the combination lock; that defendant turned the Cadillac so that plaintiff could see the combination better; that he turned facing defendant and was talking to him and didn't know the car had even moved until the plaintiff yelled "back up"; that he didn't know what action defendant took in connection with the accident so far as driving the car was concerned; that he didn't remember any shifting of the gears; that plaintiff was out of the car not more than two minutes working the combination and had his back toward the car; that he and plaintiff had planned to go out to roost some turkeys; that defendant liked to go in the woods; that he invited defendant to go along because defendant was a good friend of the witness and when asked, "Just a matter of mutual pleasure?" The witness answered, "That's right." When asked what kind of road it was, he answered, "It is a sand road. It's covered with grass most of the time. Not very deep. There's ruts, but not what you would call deep ruts. It's fairly smooth"; and further stated it was a private road and that you had to be a member of the club to know the combination of the lock; that the car was turned off toward the post because the lock was on that side and the defendant turned it towards plaintiff so he could see the combination.
Defendant Yale in his deposition testified in substance that the boys Ed and Bob got in his car at Christmas and drove down to Tosahatchee, went to Ed's camp and transferred to Ed's jeep; that Ed and Bob wanted to go look for a turkey roost; that he sat in the jeep until they returned after dark; that it was very cold; that when plaintiff and witness McEwan returned to the jeep from the woods they went back to plaintiff's camp. The appellant and McEwan put witness in his car and they drove possibly a hundred yards to the gate; that the car did not have time to warm up; that he turned his headlights up to the lock and plaintiff pushed the gate back and in order to turn through the gate he had to back his car; that he was close to and facing plaintiff; that he pulled his car into reverse and as he had to pull through "drive", probably because the grease in the hydromatic was cold, the car jumped ahead; that he realized it instantly and before plaintiff had yelled defendant had it in reverse and backed up; that it hit plaintiff's leg against the post; that witness McEwan brought plaintiff to the car and held him in his lap while defendant drove to the hospital; that if he had headed straight for the gate he would have just gone ahead but plaintiff had to have the benefit of the lights so he turned the car close to the lock so plaintiff could work the combination; that the car was stopped three to five feet from the gate post; that the light would not have been effective at a longer range; and defendant further testified that witness McEwan was on the lefthand side of the back seat sitting back of defendant and he and witness McEwan were "just talking" and when asked if he turned around to talk to McEwan, he answered, "Possibly. When I would, I *145 didn't turn all the way around. I couldn't say whether I was talking to Bob or to Ed, I don't know. I certainly didn't turn around, no." He then said he realized the car was moving the minute he shifted; that the gear shift lever worked across. The car was in neutral and in order to shift into reverse it was necessary to pass through drive and low gear, and when asked "How did three of you happen to be riding in your car?" defendant stated, "Well, I asked the boys to ride with me. Met them at Christmas and I said I would take them down there and they accepted and got in the car and we drove down in my car." The witness McEwan requested him to go with them, to meet them at Christmas and take them into the woods; that defendant could be of help in blowing the horn in getting them out of the woods, and then said "not walking, as you understand. And understand the rules of the club, too, I wasn't privileged to hunt. Well, I couldn't have anyway." He further testified that his car was four years old, he had driven all over the country, eighty-one thousand miles, including ninety miles in the mountains in a pouring rain and had never made a mistake while driving it and when asked, "Now, you were out there at that hunting preserve at the invitation of Mr. McEwan? Is that the way you got started?" The witness answered, "No. No, Mr. McEwan asked if I wanted to meet them at Christmas. The inference was, I would drive them from Christmas and they could go with me into the woods and I was glad to do it. I thought I was rendering a service."
The record discloses that at the time and place of appellant's injury defendant was operating his automobile on a private road, not a public highway or street and appellant contends that for this reason Section 320.59, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. (known as the Florida Guest Statute) is not applicable because said Section 320.59 is by Section 320.01(1), Florida Statutes, F.S.A., restricted and limited in its application to automobiles when operated on a public highway or street. Section 320.59, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., reads,
This section was first enacted as Chapter 18033, Acts of 1937, and was later brought forward in the compilation or codification of our statutes and now appears as Section 320.59 in identically the same form as originally enacted.
In Koger v. Hollahan, 144 Fla. 779, 198 So. 685, 687, 131 A.L.R. 886, the Court in considering this guest statute said, "The sole purpose of the legislature in passing the act, as we construe the simple language which they used, was to prevent one who traveled with another in a car as a guest, or without compensation, from recovering unless it was proven that the driver of the car was guilty of the greater degree of negligence. Evidently, they were concerned with the propriety and fairness of the recovery by a free rider, whether invitee or `hitch hiker', for ordinary negligence of a driver and sought to confine the recovery of one who traveled without charge to damages caused by negligence that was gross or misconduct that was wanton. When the act is considered as a whole the predominant *146 feature is the degree of negligence and not the relationship between the driver and the owner * * *."
Section 320.01, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., in part reads,
This section 320.01 was first enacted substantially in its present form as Section 1 of Chapter 7275, Acts of 1917, entitled,
This Chapter 7275 originally consisted of twenty-nine sections and had to do exclusively with the registration, licensing, equipment, dealers' registration tags, disposition of license moneys, counterfeiting tags, failure to register motor vehicles, license plates how displayed, regulation of for-hire vehicles, maximum weight, length, width and height, rough surface wheels prohibited, crossing railway tracks, regulation of traffic on state roads, appointment of License Inspectors, denial, suspension or revocation of license, penalties for violation, and many other regulator and licensing sections, and did not purport to limit or regulate the right of a guest to recover damages from the owner or operator of a motor vehicle as is provided for in our guest statute, supra, or otherwise. Our guest statute is clear and unequivocal in its language and does not make the slightest reference to public highways or streets but is couched in language indicating a clear legislative intent that it shall apply to automobiles operated on a private road or way as well as on a public highway or street and since this guest statute was not enacted until twenty years after the enactment of the aforesaid Chapter 7275 and was included in Chapter 320, Florida Statutes of 1953, F.S.A., only in the compilation or codification of our statutes, and because Section 320.01 above quoted does not by its terms apply or purport to apply to every section of said Chapter 320, but provides that in construing these statutes when applied to motor vehicles "where the context permits" (emphasis supplied) "the word, phrase or term: (1) `motor vehicle' includes automobiles * * * operated over the public highways and streets of this state * * *", we are unable to agree with appellant's contention that this guest statute is by Section 320.01 limited or restricted to automobiles when operated upon a public highway or street. To give to this guest statute the construction contended for would lead to many odd and inequitable situations. By way of illustration, if the owner of an automobile, while operating it on a public highway with two guests A and B, should find the highway blocked or washed out, making it necessary to leave the highway and detour a hundred yards over private property and while making such detour guest A was injured *147 by the simple negligence of such owner guest A would have a cause of action for simple negligence, but if the host was before leaving the highway onto such detour or immediately upon returning onto the highway guilty of simple negligence and thereby guest B was injured, guest B would have no cause of action against such operator. We are unable to agree that the legislature in the enactment of our guest statute intended to limit or restrict its application in such manner as to create situations such as above illustrated, or that it is so limited or restricted by Section 320.01, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., above quoted. See McMillan v. Nelson, 149 Fla. 334, 5 So. 2d 867-870.
We are not aware of any decision of this Court and none had been cited holding that Section 320.59, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., was not applicable to cases wherein an automobile guest sought to recover damages from his host for the negligent operation by the host of his automobile on a private road or place, except in Sproule v. Nelson, Fla., 81 So. 2d 478, where the following language was used:
but by order of September 8, 1955, this quoted language was stricken from that opinion and this order will doubtless appear in a later permanent volume of the Southern Reporter.
Appellant next contends that he was not a guest of appellee at the time of his injury and was not then in appellee's automobile but had dismounted therefrom to open a gate. From the evidence adduced before the trial judge when he entered the judgment herein appealed from, a full resume whereof is, for the purpose of clarity set forth in the fore part of this opinion, it appears without dispute that at appellee's request appellant had been transported by appellee in his automobile from Fort Christmas to Tosahatchee Hunting Club and to appellant's hunting camp thereon in order that appellant and witness McEwan might hunt or search for turkey roosts while appellee remained in appellant's jeep and that on leaving said hunting camp on their return trip to Fort Christmas where appellant had left his car appellant was riding in the car of appellee driven by appellee until they reached a gate across the road on which they were traveling when appellant dismounted to release the combination lock on the gate and to open the gate in order that appellant, appellee and witness McEwan might continue their contemplated journey to Fort Christmas. It further appears from the record that neither appellant nor witness McEwan paid appellee anything of value for transporting them to and from appellant's hunting camp; that appellee was not physically able to hunt and not being a member of the hunting club was not permitted to hunt on its preserve or property and it was never contemplated by any of the parties that he would hunt on the property. The journey was not made for the transaction of any business in which appellant and appellee were mutually interested or for the transaction of any business in which appellee alone was interested and no benefit was conferred upon or received by appellee other than such as is incidental to hospitality, goodwill and the like, and the only reason plaintiff dismounted from defendant's automobile at the gate was to open the gate through which the automobile would pass to continue the journey contemplated by all the parties to Fort Christmas where plaintiff had left his car.
The guest statutes of many states use the language "riding in" or "while riding in" or "while riding in or upon" the motor vehicle, but our guest statute, Section 320.59, is quite different in that it reads, "no person transported by the owner or operator" * * *, so the authorities cited by appellant where the statutes under consideration read "riding in" or "while riding in" are not applicable or controlling in the case at bar.
The statutes of Michigan and Connecticut and the Rule established by Judicial Decision *148 in Massachusetts are for the purposes of this, the instant case, the same as our guest statute and the Supreme Court of Michigan, in Langford v. Rogers, 278 Mich. 310, 270 N.W. 692, 695, in construing the Michigan statute, said:
And the Court further stated,
And in Castle v. McKeown, 327 Mich. 518, 42 N.W.2d 733, 734, the Supreme Court of Michigan said,
And in Bragdon v. Dinsmore, 312 Mass. 628, 45 N.E.2d 833, 146 A.L.R. 680, decided by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, where the rule as to the liability of an automobile host or operator to his guest is in substance the same as the Florida Guest Statute, the Court said,
And citing cases, including Ruel v. Langelier, 299 Mass. 240, 12 N.E.2d 735, said,
Appellant next contends that the trial court in entering the judgment appealed from erred in finding and holding that defendant was not guilty of gross negligence and in entering the judgment appealed from.
In Brown v. Roach, Fla., 67 So. 2d 201, 203, when considering a case brought under Section 320.59, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., the Court said,
citing Cormier v. Williams, 148 Fla. 201, 4 So. 2d 525; Dexter v. Green, Fla., 55 So. 2d 548; DeWald v. Quarnstrom, Fla., 60 So. 2d 919, and then said,
Applying the above cited definition of what constitutes gross negligence and wilful and wanton misconduct under our Guest Statute to the evidence in the instant case, we think it is clear that the evidence was not sufficient to constitute gross negligence or wilful and wanton misconduct and that the trial court was without error in so holding, and having reached this conclusion, we think no error was committed by the trial court in entering the judgment appealed from without the intervention of a jury.
See, Cormier v. Williams, 148 Fla. 201, 4 So. 2d 525; Koger v. Hollahan, 144 Fla. 779, 198 So. 685, 131 A.L.R. 886.
*151 See also, Ling v. Edenfield, 5 Cir., 211 F.2d 705.
We have considered all other questions raised by appellant by his assignments of error or briefs and are of the opinion that no reversible error has been made to appear and that the judgment appealed from should be affirmed. It is so ordered.
DREW, C.J., and TERRELL, THOMAS and SEBRING, JJ., concur.
ROBERTS, J., dissents.
THORNAL, J., not participating.