Court Opinion

ID: 9570875
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:27:12.45333+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:19:52.871131
License: Public Domain

Hallows, J.
(dissenting). I would affirm because I agree with the trial court that this plaintiff, a fourteen-year-old city girl should not be held negligent for not accepting a guide. In this mechanical age a fourteen-year-old minor knows more about automobiles than she does of the characteristics of riding horses. The degree of judgment a fourteen-year-old child can be charged with is not the mature judgment of an adult but the judgment of an ordinary prudent child of fourteen years. Almost daily we see children taking thrill rides at carnivals and fairs which many adults would not do. I think it would be a rare exception for a fourteen-year-old girl to accept the offer of a guide to go horseback riding. If the defendant was having accidents and trouble with his horses as the testimony shows, it was his duty in renting horses to the public to insist upon a guide. We should not charge negligence to a fourteen-year-old for failure to accept an offer, which in the nature of things would not normally be accepted.