Court Opinion

ID: 9541810
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:28:47.911681+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:04:52.617254
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, Justice,
dissenting.
A plaintiff in this circumstance — injured in an auto accident allegedly as a result of poor driving tactics on the part of another driver, for whom a third party (the other driver’s employer) is alleged to be liable— has always possessed a right to pursue the third party under theories of negligence separate and independent from the vicarious liability created on the theory of re-spondeat superior. Further, as discussed in my dissent in Griffith v. Schmidt, 110 Idaho 235, 242, 715 P.2d 905, 912 (1985), — a discussion which need not be repeated — I disagree that violation of the 55 m.p.h. speed limit constitutes negligence per se. Accordingly, I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion.
While Kinney v. Smith, 95 Idaho 328, 508 P.2d 1234 (1973), is not directly on point with the question here presented, it established a sound rule regarding multiple negligence theories offered against a party vicariously liable for injuries suffered in a collision of motor vehicles. That rule is sufficiently broad to be here controlling. In Kinney, the plaintiffs sued the driver and the owner of a vehicle which caused the plaintiffs’ injuries. Id. at 328-29, 508 P.2d at 1234-35. The plaintiffs asserted liability against the owner under separate theories of (1) “direct negligence for furnishing a vehicle to an incompetent driver,” and (2) “negligence which must be imputed to her as owner under I.C. § 49-1404, subd. 1.” Id. at 329, 508 P.2d at 1235 (emphasis original). The trial court refused to admit evidence as to the former theory. On appeal (the circumstances of which are not essential), this Court unanimously held that the plaintiffs were entitled to present evidence relating to their allegation that the owner had negligently permitted an unlicensed driver to operate her car in violation of I.C. § 49-339, in addition to presenting evidence relating to *747their theory of statutorily imputed negligence. Id. at 330-34, 508 P.2d at 1236-40. The Kinney plaintiffs’ theory in essence was no different from the theory of negligent entrustment there pleaded. Consequently, under the rule of Kinney, the instant plaintiff should have had the opportunity to present theories of both negligent entrustment and respondeat superior. Accord, Perin v. Peuler, 373 Mich. 531, 130 N.W.2d 4 (1964); Clark v. Stewart, 126 Ohio St. 263, 185 N.E. 71 (1933).
Good reasons exist for allowing the plaintiff to pursue both theories. The factual circumstances of the instant case involve different negligent acts, the driver’s negligence in operating the vehicle, and the negligence of Fiberglass in putting an inexperienced driver at the wheel of a truck which will travel on an interstate freeway. A plaintiff is entitled to present to the jury his proof on both theories. Until today I was unaware that there were good legal minds who opined otherwise. The negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle can result in injury to another. As with any other theory, both negligence and causation must be established. Under the law of comparative negligence, the jury is required to assign percentages of fault, and it is not inconceivable that causative fault may be attributed to the act of entrusting a motor vehicle to a driver who may be found to have been insufficiently trained and instructed.
Conversely, there is no persuasive reason for precluding a plaintiff from presenting multiple theories of liability. The majority’s only justification is that “the offered evidence [on negligent entrustment] would only have served to deflect the jury’s attention from the one contested issue — whether the collision was caused by Walker’s negligence.” Walker, however, may not have been as negligent in his driving as his employer was in putting him at the wheel— both being clearly jury questions. In any event, the jury should be allowed to consider the independent negligence of the employer. If, as the majority pontifically worries, this theory distracts from the other claim that the employee-driver was negligent, that is a concern of the plaintiff alone.
The majority points to case law from other jurisdictions. However, there is a critical distinction between that case law and this case. In those' cases, the courts were concerned with the introduction of prior acts of negligence by the driver as evidence of the owner’s negligent entrustment. The Annotation explains:
In order to establish liability under the theory of negligent entrustment, the incompetence of the driver must be established, and further, the plaintiff must prove that the owner had knowledge of the driver’s incompetence. It has been held that proof of incompetency, and the owner’s knowledge thereof, may be established by evidence of specific instances of carelessness, recklessness, or prior acts of negligence. The rule permitting evidence of other negligent or reckless acts in entrustment cases is at variance with the general rule that evidence of similar prior acts of negligence is inadmissible on the issue of negligence on the occasion in question. The reasoning given in support of such general rule is that admission of evidence of prior acts of negligence would inject collateral issues into the case and have a tendency to confuse the minds of the jurors.
The courts which have considered the question posed by the subject of this annotation have generally resolved the evidentiary conflict arising through the negligent entrustment theory in holding that where the vehicle owner has admitted liability for the acts of the driver under another theory of recovery, it is improper to allow the person injured in a motor vehicle accident to proceed under the theory of negligent entrustment. 30 A.L.R. 4th 838, 839 (footnote omitted).
Here, no such evidentiary conflict existed. The plaintiff offered to withdraw the offer of proof with respect to Walker’s prior citations, and submit only evidence that the employer permitted Walker to drive without the proper instruction or experience. *748In my view, there existed no valid reason precluding the plaintiff from so doing. It may not surprise the trial bar that a court which provides a rule or sub-rule to govern all phases of litigation has not hesitated to give fatherly advice as to the theories to pursue at trial so that the jury is not distracted from what the court perceives to be the better and only theory.