Court Opinion

ID: 9562192
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:23:22.091325+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:14.869967
License: Public Domain

Rodman, J.,
dissenting: I dissent because I am unable to agree with the conclusion reached by the majority that a child who has passed his sixth but has not reached his seventh birthday is so lacking in mental capacity and judgment that under no circumstances can he be held responsible for his conduct. I think the conclusion reached is contrary to common experience. *698The fallacy of the conclusion is, I think, illustrated in our public schools. By constitutional mandate we provide a public school system for children when they reach the age of six. Enrollment in the first grades in North Carolina approximates 110,000. These children travel to and from school 180 days a year. They travel as pedestrians, by buses operated by the schools, and by public utilities. They travel in all kinds of trafile. The paucity of casualties resulting therefrom demonstrates, I think, these children have more intelligence and judgment than the decision in this case accords them.
The question now presented has not heretofore been decided by this Court. Appellate courts of sister States are divided on the question. Uniformity is not always true in the decisions of a particular State. I think the correct rule of law was stated by this Court in Alexander v. Statesville, 165 N.C. 527, 81 S.E. 763. The opinion in that case gives plaintiff’s age as “about seyen years old.” The record discloses he lacked 36 days of reaching the age of seven. The rule there stated is epitomized in the quotation which Justice Walker makes from Rolin v. Tobacco Co. 141 N.C. 300: “ ‘It is hardly necessary to add that contributory negligence on the part of the minor is to be measured by his age and his ability to discern and appreciate the circumstances of danger. He is not chargeable with the same degree of care as an experienced adult, but is only required to exercise such prudence as one of his years may be expected to possess. As the standard of care thus varies with the age, capacity, and experience of the child, it is usually, if not always, when the child is not wholly irresponsible, a question of fact for the jury whether a child exercised the ordinary care and prudence of a child similarly situated; and if such care was exercised, a recovery can be had for an injury negligently inflicted, no matter how far the care used by the child falls short of the standard which the law exacts for determining what is ordinary care in a person of full age and capacity . . .’ ”
It is true that the rule as to the responsibility of a child under seven declared in the Alexander case was not essential to a decision of that case and for that reason is entitled only to that weight which logic and reason justify. That is likewise true of the language used in Caudle v. R. R., 202 N.C. 404, 163 S.E. 122, cited and relied upon by the majority. There damages were sought for the death of a twelve-year-old boy. Defendant demurred to the complaint for that on its face it showed that plaintiff’s intestate was guilty of contributory negligence. Contributory negligence is an affirmative defense which must be pleaded. G.S. 1-139. It cannot be raised by demurrer to the complaint.
*699It is to be noted that the Court which decided the Caudle case held in Tart v. R. R., 202 N.C. 52, 161 S.E. 720, that a boy eleven years, seven months of age was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, saying: “The doctrine is settled that a child is not chargeable with the same degree of care as an experienced adult and that the standard of conduct varies with his age, capacity and experience; but he must exercise care and prudence equal to his capacity. Alexander v. Statesville, 165 N.C. 527.”
Conceding, as the majority states, that the holding in Morris v. Sprott, 207 N.C. 358, 177 S.E. 13, is consistent with the result reached in Caudle v. R. R., it must, I think, also be conceded that the Court did not intend to disapprove the rule enunciated in Alexander v. Statesville which it cites and relies on as the basis for its opinion.
As the majority point out, we have several decisions to the effect that children under school age cannot be, as a matter of law, guilty of contributory negligence. No decision has been discovered by this Court determinative of the question as it relates to a child six years of age. I think the reasons given in the cases cited support the position taken by Judge Moore and require, upon appropriate facts, the submission of the issue to a jury. If children of an age compelled to attend school are to be relieved of all responsibility for their acts, I think it should be done by legislative action rather than by judicial decision.
Winborne, C. J., concurs in dissent.