Court Opinion

ID: 9751530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 16:34:02.988595+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:50.580469
License: Public Domain

O’Sullivan, J.
(dissenting). I agree with the result in so far as it imposes liability upon Mrs. Stevenson.
To the reasons expressed by Justice Jennings in his dissent, in which I concur, I would add that the majority are creating an anomaly which, it seems to me, cannot be sustained in logic. The following illustration is but one of many which might be cited to demonstrate my point. By virtue of the opinion, the law now appears to be that a guest in an automobile is an invitee, so-called, towards whom the host must exercise reasonable care, while the same guest, merely by stepping out of the automobile upon his host’s property, instantly loses his status as an invitee and acquires that of a licensee, protected by a far more limited standard of care than that to which he was entitled, seconds before, as a passenger in the automobile.
Regardless of the purpose which may prompt the owner of realty, he should be required to exercise reasonable care towards those who have come upon his property by virtue of either his express or his implied *478invitation. This rule should apply to all so invited, whether they be milkmen, grocers, or social guests. The rule is. sound and conforms with common sense. It will eliminate the anomaly mentioned above. And, finally, it is supported by the Guilford case, which protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, is, I regret to say, now overruled.