Opinion ID: 2518480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Contributory Negligence of a Passenger

Text: ¶ 10 Negligence is the want of ordinary care. 76 O.S.2001, § 5. Contributory negligence is an act or omission on the part of a plaintiff amounting to want of ordinary care which, together with the negligence of the defendant, is the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury. Sloan v. Anderson, 1932 OK 782, 160 Okla. 180, 18 P.2d 274. While a passenger stands in a different position than a driver, a passenger must use ordinary care for his or her safety or be open to the charge of contributory negligence. Stillwater Milling Co. v. Templin, 1938 OK 203, ¶ 13, 182 Okla. 309, 77 P.2d 732, 735. The settled rule in this jurisdiction is that a passenger in a moving vehicle must use ordinary care for his or her own safety, Matchen v. McGahey, 1969 OK 48, ¶ 25, 455 P.2d 52, 58; and in order to exercise ordinary care, the passenger may be required, by reason of all the circumstances involved, to caution the driver against the manner of the vehicle's operation or warn the driver of a dangerous condition. Id. ¶ 11 What act or omission of a passenger constitutes contributory negligence depends upon the facts and circumstances established in each case, and generally it is a question of fact to be decided by the jury under appropriate instruction. Id. 1969 OK 48 at ¶ 0, 455 P.2d 52, Syllabus by the Court, No. 2; Hasty v. Pittsburg County Ry. Co., 1925 OK 576, 112 Okla. 144, 240 P. 1056, 1059. For instance, contributory negligence of the passenger was a question of fact to be determined by the jury where the passenger went to sleep, Rader v. Fleming, 1967 OK 104, ¶ 13, 429 P.2d 750, 752, when the passenger failed to caution about dangerous driving or watch for road hazards, Bradshaw v. Fields, 1977 OK 240, ¶ 10, 572 P.2d 552, 553-54, or when the vehicle was struck while crossing a railroad track, Kansas O. & G. Ry. v. Clark, 1953 OK 276, ¶ 17, 262 P.2d 426, 429. We have carefully reviewed the record, and although no witness testified about Naomi Thomason's acts or omissions, we cannot say there is a complete absence of proof of circumstances from which an inference of her contributory negligence might have been drawn.