Court Opinion

ID: 9446808
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 22:18:44.646608+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:47.308148
License: Public Domain

*952RIVES, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The value of the right of jury trial preserved by the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, in suits at common law in federal courts including diversity cases,1 is difficult to over-estimate. That constitutional right is impaired, I think, by this decision.
In addition to the facts very fairly stated in the majority opinion, I would mention a few matters. There was evidence from which any mistreatment of the car after its rental to the plaintiff could be excluded. The accident itself was the first instance of anything unusual about the operation of the automobile while it was in the plaintiff’s possession. Any bad weather or highway defect could be excluded. The accident occurred on a clear day and on a dry pavement. Before the rental of the automobile to the plaintiff on March 8, 1956, its last previous rental had been to a Mr. Reistenberg who had the car from February 8, 1956, until March 5, 1956, nearly a month. When rented to the plaintiff, the car had been driven 3621 miles without inspection other than an inspection immediately after its purchase [by the defendant] some three months earlier.
In my opinion, reasonable inferences favorable to the plaintiff’s recovery were open to the jury. Regrettably the accident and damage had occurred, and it was inevitable that the loss had to fall on someone. The jury could have found the plaintiff wholly free from fault. If so, the fairer rule, and the one most consistent with a sound public policy, is to impose on the defendant renter the risk of the safety of the automobile.
If, however, the defendant is not subject to that strict liability, clearly the evidence was sufficient to authorize the jury to find that the brake was defective and that the defendant was negligent in failing to inspect the car before renting it to plaintiff. If the court would not permit the jury to find a duty of inspection after the car had been driven 3621 miles, at just what mileage would that duty arise? Is that not necessarily a matter for the jury to decide? The operation of an automobile is inherently dangerous, unless diligence is exercised both in its manufacture and in its inspection and maintenance. That is a matter of common knowledge, and is settled by the long line of decisions following the famous case of MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co., 1916, 217 N.Y. 382, 111 N.E. 1050, L.R.A.1916F, 696. Florida’s full sympathy with the MacPherson doctrine is shown by the cases discussed in the majority opinion. Few problems have received wider discussion, and I shall not re-thresh old straw, but am content to agree with Dean Prosser’s statement of the rule adequately supported by the authorities which he cites:
“ * * * The lessor of an automobile is liable to a guest in the vehicle or a person run down on the highway, not only if he knows that the car is dangerously defective at the time it is supplied,58 or that the person entrusted with it is incompetent to handle it,59 but also if he merely fails to make reasonable inspection to discover possible defects before turning it over.80”
“58 Lynch v. Richardson, 1895, 163 Mass. 160, 36 N.E. 801, 47 Am.St.Rep. 444; Trusty v. Patterson, 1930, 299 Pa. 469, 149 A. 717; Ferraro v. Taylor, 1936, 197 Minn. 5, 265 N.W. 829. Cf. Griffin v. Payne, 1920, 95 N.J.L. 490, 113 A. 247; Bryson v. Hines, 4 Cir., 1920, 268 F. 290, 11 A.L.R. 1438.
“59 See infra, p. 513.
“80 White v. Steadman, [1913] 3 KB. 340, 82 L.K.J.B. 846 (passenger) ; Milestone System v. Gasior, 1931, 160 Md. 131, 152 A. 810 (same); Mitchell v. Lonergan, 1934, 285 Mass. 266, 189 N.E. 39 (same); Collette v. Page, 1921, 44 R.I. 26, 114 A. 136, 18 A.L.R. 74 (collision) ; Saunders System Birmingham Co. *953v. Adams, 1928, 217 Ala. 621, 117 So. 72, 61 A.L.R. 1333 (same); Vaughn v. Millington Motors Co., 1929, 160 Tenn. 197, 22 S.W.2d 226 (same).”
Prosser on Torts, 2d ed., § 84, p. 611.
I respectfully dissent.

. See authorities collected in my dissent in Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Futch, 5 Cir., 263 F.2d 701.