Court Opinion

ID: 9621757
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:06:07.105695+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:08.814891
License: Public Domain

Judge Pro Tem MeDERMOTT,
Dissenting.
From a common-sense standpoint, it is unlikely that the Idaho Legislature intended *668the term “move,” as used in Idaho Code § 49-808(1), to apply to Dewbre’s driving in this case. For that reason, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.
Under Idaho Code § 49-808(1), a driver may not turn or “move right or left upon a highway unless and until the movement can be made with reasonable safety nor without giving an appropriate signal.” In this case, Dewbre, while traveling on Highway 57, approached the designated passing lane between mileposts 6 and 7. Instead of steering into the left-hand passing lane, he remained in the right-hand lane, as the posted sign required. When the passing area ended, he merged, again as the posted sign directed, into the single lane of travel, essentially travelling in a straight direction and not “moving” his vehicle left or right. Dewbre was then stopped for failing to signal by an officer who had been following him for over four miles.
In the literal sense, I agree that Dewbre’s actions constituted some form of “movement,” however common sense dictates that the Idaho Legislature did not intend the statute to apply in the factual situation presented here. The word “move,” as contained in Idaho Code § 49-808(1), does not require a driver to signal where the driver, obeying the posted traffic signs, remains in the right-hand lane until the highway’s structure forces the driver to merge into the left-hand lane.
As the Idaho Court of Appeals held in Smith v. Smith, 131 Idaho 800, 802, 964 P.2d 667, 669 (Ct.App.1988), “[jjudicial interpretation of a statute should ‘aim to give it sensible construction’ such as will effectuate legislative intent while, if possible, avoiding an absurd conclusion.” Requiring a driver to signal when he or she is traveling in essentially a straight line, and as required by the posted signs, may confuse, rather than alert, other drivers.