Opinion ID: 2632335
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of Hinkle v. Siltamaki

Text: [¶ 34] The only Wyoming case with somewhat comparable factual circumstances to those in the instant appeal is Hinkle v. Siltamaki, 361 P.2d 37 (Wyo.1961), in which a motorist/horse accident occurred on a fenced public highway. Mr. Hinkle, by his own admission, only had evidence of the horse's ownership and presence on the highway as foundation for his negligence claim. The district court granted summary judgment to Mr. Siltamaki concluding: Section 56-1813, Wyoming Compiled Statutes of 1945, as amended, [precursor to § 11-24-108, Strays in Fenced Public Highways Statute] does not impose a liability upon the owner of livestock for livestock turned loose upon the open range which stray into any fenced public lanes or fenced roads in the State of Wyoming without the knowledge of the owners thereof[.] Hinkle, 361 P.2d at 38. This court, affirming the summary judgment, explicitly adopted the majority view that the mere presence of an animal on the highway does not constitute the owner's negligence per se. [16] See Nylen v. Dayton, 770 P.2d 1112 (Wyo.1989). If such evidence is insufficient to constitute a violation of the Strays in Fenced Public Highways Statute and to establish negligence per se on a fenced road, it is also insufficient to establish negligence per se on a posted open range highway.