Court Opinion

ID: 9844453
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:02:59.721404+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:35.397704
License: Public Domain

McFADDEN, Justice, joined by SCOGGIN, District Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I concur in that portion of the majority opinion which sustains the summary judgment granted in favor of the defendant Department of Highways, State of Idaho. However, I dissent from that portion of the opinion vacating the district court’s order granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
The majority opinion recognizes that Mrs. Dawson was negligent per se in failing to stop at the stop-sign line as required by statute, I.C. § 49-751(d), and tacitly, at least, recognizes she was also in violation of I.C. § 49-729(b), set forth in the majority opinion, supra, for failing to yield. The majority opinion, while giving lip service to the statutory requirements, is somehow able to accept the appellants’ contention that failure to stop did not proximately cause the accident and that failure to yield under the facts was not negligence. It is my conclusion this is contrary to the uncontroverted facts of this case and a misconstruction of the applicable law.
Certain facts are clear and undisputed. Mrs. Dawson stopped her pick-up behind the large semi-trailer truck which had stopped at the stop sign. The semi-trailer truck was more than sixty-five feet in length, which would have placed the Dawson vehicle some additional distance back from the stop sign. The driver of the truck-trailer observed the roadway to the left, saw it was clear, and proceeded to enter the intersection and make his turn to the left, clearing the intersection prior to the time that the Olson vehicle approached. Contemporaneously with the movement of the truck-trailer, Mrs. Dawson commenced to follow this large vehicle. The driver of the car which had stopped behind the Dawson pick-up testified that at no time did Mrs. Dawson apply her brakes, which would have shown from the pick-up’s brake lights, but that the Dawson vehicle just proceeded out onto the through highway. While this movement of the truck-trailer was in progress, with the Dawson pick-up following, the Olson Mercury sedan was proceeding westerly. Appellants claimed that by reason of the crown of the overpass, and obstructions to her view, Mrs. Dawson could not have seen this vehicle as it approached. That may have been true during the early stages of Mrs. Dawson’s movement towards the intersection, but the closer she approached this intersection, the closer the Olson vehicle came to the point of impact. By the time that the front end of the pick-up truck crossed over the stop-line, of necessity the Olson vehicle had to be well within the range of Mrs. Dawson’s view.
Examination of the vehicles after the accident shows that the Olson vehicle struck the Dawson pick-up behind the left front wheel, and the record reflects that the accident happened in the west bound lane of traffic. This simply means that Mrs. Dawson had proceeded only a relatively short distance — less than half the length of *643her vehicle into the intersection — before it was hit by the Olson vehicle. For this accident to have happened, of necessity the Olson vehicle, with its lights on, was in the near vicinity of the intersection at the time Mrs. Dawson drove out into it. The driver of the truck stated that he saw the accident happen in his rear-view mirror, and that he observed the Olson vehicle pass his truck just as he straightened out — -which according to his testimony was west of the overpass itself — about 150 feet from the intersection. This places the Olson vehicle in such a position that Mrs. Dawson had the absolute duty to yield to the Olson vehicle “which [was] approaching so closely on said roadway as to constitute an immediate hazard.” I.C. § 49-729(b). In other words, as a matter of law under the facts of this case, at the time the Dawson vehicle was at the point of the stop line, the Olson car was so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. It cannot be said that any reasonable person would have failed to see this vehicle at that time and place. The headlights of the Olson car were on and the air was clear. There is nothing in the record to bring Mrs. Dawson within
any one of the exceptions of Bale v. Perryman, 85 Idaho 435, 380 P.2d 501 (1963).1
It is difficult to understand how the Court concludes there are substantial facts to support the jury verdict in this case when one considers the purpose of enactment of “stop sign” and “right of way” statutes such as I.C. § 49-751 and § 49-729. The very purpose of such statutes is to provide for safe progress on a highway. That is, a person on a through highway shall have the right to assume that others entering that highway do so only when the roadway is clear, and, if it is not clear that they will wait until oncoming traffic is through the intersection. In Stucki v. Loveland, 93 Idaho 253, 460 P.2d 388 (1969), appellants’ decedent occupied a car which ran a stop sign and was hit by respondent’s truck. The appellants alleged the truck was exceeding the safe and reasonable speed which, appellants contended, raised a question of fact for a jury as to who was negligent. This Court’s opinion indeed stated that “[a]t the time of the accident the roads in the area were snow covered and slick.” Nevertheless, the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the respondent truck driver was unanimously affirmed by this Court. The reasoning of this Court is instructive.
“Appellants additionally contend that even if Hahn was traveling only 40 miles per hour under the existing road conditions the reasonableness of such speed presented an issue of fact for resolution by the jury by reason of the provisions of I.C. § 49-701. There might be more merit to this contention if the in*644tersection involved in this case was not one where the road on which the Cadillac was traveling was controlled by a 'stop’ sign. I.C. § 49-751 (d) places the duty upon the driver of the vehicle approaching the stop sign to stop before entering the controlled intersection. Other vehicles approaching such a controlled intersection are entitled to rely upon the mandatory provisions of that statute. Foster v. Thomas, 85 Idaho 565, 382 P.2d 792 (1963); Salcido v. Bates, 436 S.W.2d 934 (Tex.Civ.App.1968); Godwin v. LaTurco, [272 Cal.App.2d 475] 77 Cal.Rptr. 305 (Cal.App.1969); Barwood, Inc. v. Georgi, 253 Md. 29, 251 A.2d 596 (1969); Gates v. Green, 214 So.2d 828 (Miss.1968); Annot. 3 A.L.R. 3d 180, at § 7, p. 255. It is the duty of the driver approaching the stop sign to come to a halt and determine if it is safe to proceed across the highway; it is not the duty of the driver of the vehicle on the sign-protected through highway to assume drivers will violate such mandatory statutory duty. Foster v. Thomas, supra; Coughran v. Hickox, 82 Idaho 18, 348 P.2d 724 (1960).
“In this case where there was a direct violation of the mandatory provisions of the statute and no explanation or justification offered for such violation, the proximate cause of the accident could not be attributed to anything other than the failure of the driver of the Loveland vehicle to stop at the stop sign before proceeding through the intersection. See Greyhound Corp. v. Sparks, 283 F.2d 44 (5th Cir. 1960); Davis v. Brooks Transp. Co., 186 F.Supp. 366 (D.C.Del.1960); Sun Cab Co. v. Cusick, 209 Md. 354, 121 A.2d 188 (1956); Annot. 3 A. L.R.3d 180 at §§ 47-48, pp. 450-461. It is our conclusion that there were no actions on the part of respondent Hahn that could be considered as a proximate cause of the accident.” 93 Idaho at 257, 460 P.2d at 392.
In the present case the Dawson children contend that Olson’s speed was an essential factor which would obviate the failure to stop; that is, they argue that if the through vehicle had been going a reasonable and safe speed there would have been no crash. However, this Court clearly adopted the rule that the driver of the car failing to stop had to explain or justify his failure to stop and if no justification were offered then, as a matter of law, “the proximate cause of the accident could not be attributed to anything other than the failure of the driver of the * * * vehicle to stop at the stop sign before proceeding through the intersection.” Stucki v. Loveland, supra, 93 Idaho at 257, 460 P.2d at 392.
This same analysis surely must be utilized here if Idaho law relating to highways is to be consistently applied. The order granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict ought to be affirmed.

. My examination of the record shows that the jury was not instructed in accordance with Bale v. Perryman, a ease which sets out the four excuses by which a driver who violates a mandatory statutory duty may avoid the charge of contributory negligence. The rule of that case reads as follows:
“It is generally held that in civil actions for damages, where injury occurs as a proximate result of a violation of a statute enacted for the protection of motorists, such violation constitutes negligence per se. [Citations.] It must be recognized that certain circumstances furnish an excuse or justification for the negligence presumed to arise on proof of violation of a statute or ordinance. Such circumstances may generally be classified in four categories : (1) Anything that would make compliance with the statute impossible; (2) Anything over which the driver has no control which places his ear in a position violative of the statute; (3) An emergency not of the driver’s own making by reason of which he fails to obey the statute; (4) An excuse specifically provided by statute [citation].” 85 Idaho at 442-443, 380 P.2d at 505.
The Court today also ignores the teaching of two cases which followed Bale v. Perryman, i. e. Haakonstad v. Hoff, 94 Idaho 300, 486 P.2d 1013 (1971), and Werth v. Tromberg, 90 Idaho 204, 409 P.2d 421 (1965).