Court Opinion

ID: 9605235
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:31:54.585391+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:26.628796
License: Public Domain

*756Hall, Justice,
dissenting.
The trial court dismissed the appellant’s petition for failure to state a claim for relief. It is elementary that under the CPA a petition can not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Code Ann. § 81A-112 (b). The plaintiff in this case stipulated that the ambulance service acted in "good faith.” Code Ann. § 88-3114 has a good faith requirement and further grants to the providers of ambulance services some immunity. The issue for this court is whether this immunity exempts ambulance services from liability for only ordinary negligence (failure to exercise due care) or whether this immunity extends the exemption from liability to acts of gross negligence or wanton misconduct.1 The majority opinion equates "good faith” with a standard of care and gives to ambulance services a total, blanket immunity. I disagree. That the ambulance service acted in good faith does not mean that the service was non-negligent. A person may exercise good faith and still be negligent. "An act or omission may constitute negligence, even though the person charged acted according to his best judgment or in good faith.” 65 CJS 472, Negligence, § 2 (8). This is the law of Georgia. Western & A. R. Co. v. Vaughan, 113 Ga. 354 (3) (38 SE 851) (1901). The good faith requirement m the statute is a requirement that the ambulance service must meet before it may take advantage of the statutory immunity; however, the good faith requirement does not reveal to what extent and to which standard of care the statutory immunity applies. I interpret Code Ann. § 88-3114 as an immunization only from the failure to exercise ordinary care. Exculpatory statutes, like exculpatory agreements, should be strictly construed. See Ins. Co. of N. A. v. Gulf Oil Corp., 106 Ga. App. 382 (127 SE2d 43) (1962).
*757In my opinion, the petition here states a claim for relief because the ambulance service may have been grossly negligent. The trial court erred in sustaining a motion to dismiss. I agree with the majority opinion that the statute has no constitutional infirmity.

Ordinary negligence — Code § 105-201; gross negligence — Code § 105-203; wanton negligence — Carr v. John J. Woodside Storage Co., 217 Ga. 438 (123 SE2d 261) (1961).