Court Opinion

ID: 9628610
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 09:26:21.167383+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:45.424458
License: Public Domain

O’CONNELL, J.,
dissenting.
I dissent. The majority opinion holds that reversible error was committed by including in the instruction the statement that “The defendant was only required in this case to keep to his right of the highway when meeting oncoming traffic.” I agree that the sentence standing alone is not an accurate statement of the law. However, it must be read in the whole context of the instruction dealing with the defendant’s duty in turning from a direct line of travel. The trial court went on to say that:
“* * * Therefore, defendant was not negligent solely by the act of driving to the left of the center line.” (Emphasis supplied)
This qualified the preceding sentence by informing the jury that there could be circumstances under which the defendant would be required to keep to his right. The instructions described this duty more particularly. These instructions were as follows:
“* * # If it appears by a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff intended to pass the car driven hy the defendant and the defendant had not signaled he was intending to turn to the left and the parties were in a position several hundred feet from the intersection of Brush Creek road and there was ample time and distance to pass before reaching that intersection, then the plaintiff had a right to pass the car driven by the defendant and he would not be negligent in so attempting to pass. If the plaintiff was in the act of overtaking and passing the car driven by the defendant in a lawful manner, the law provides *396it was the duty of the defendant to give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on suitable and audible signal and that he should not increase the speed of his vehicle until he was completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. If the plaintiff was attempting to pass and had to get his car at the speed necessary to pass to go around the car of the defendant, and if the defendant, without signal to the plaintiff, drove his car to the left and across the center line in front of the car being driven by the plaintiff, that would be negligence on the part of the defendant.
^ ^ ^
“It was the duty of the defendant in this case, before turning his car to the left and across the center of the paved portion of the highway, to first see such movement could be made with safety. If he failed to do that and made such turn across the center line of the highway and in front of plaintiff’s car while plaintiff was lawfully passing the same, that would be negligence on the part of the defendant.”
The trial court read to the jury ORS 483.450 requiring a rear view mirror or other device “as to enable the driver thereof to have such a clear and unobstructed view of the rear at all times and under all conditions of load as will enable him to see any other vehicle approaching from not less than 200 feet in the rear on an unobstructed road”; and also-read ORS 483.452 prohibiting the obstruction of the windows on a vehicle. The court then instructed the jury that:
“If you should find that the defendant failed to comply with either of the sections of the statute and that such failure was the proximate cause of the accident, then such conduct of the defendant would constitute negligence in and of itself.”
The foregoing instructions were then followed by the instruction set out in the majority opinion.
*397Reading these instructions as a whole the jury certainly would have understood that the defendant had no right to turn to the left unless he complied with the statutory requirements and exercised the precaution to first see that the movement “could be made with safety.” We have held repeatedly that a single erroneous instruction is not reversible error if the instructions as a whole correctly state the applicable law. Whitehead v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 194 Or 106, 239 P2d 226 (1952); Cade v. Thompson, 190 Or 242, 225 P2d 396 (1950); Parmentier v. Ransom, 179 Or 17, 169 P2d 883 (1946); Yarbrough v. Carlson, 102 Or 422, 202 P 739 (1921).
A more serious problem is presented by the following portion of the disputed instruction:
“If plaintiff would require defendant to give way to the right or keep to his right half of the highway, he must give a clearly audible signal of his intention to overtake and pass. If you find that plaintiff failed to give a clearly audible signal of his intention to overtake and pass defendant, plaintiff was negligent.”
The majority opinion states that “This language advised the jury that defendant was free to turn to the left without any lookout for vehicles approaching from the rear, unless he was given actual notice that plaintiff intended to pass.” I do not think that this is a fair interpretation of the instruction. The preceding instructions spelled out the defendant’s duty in making a left turn including the duty “to first see such movement could be made with safety.” Considering the instructions as a whole the jury must have understood that the defendant and plaintiff had reciprocal duties. • The instruction did not explain whether or not the audible signal would have to be heard. The *398statutory duty which the trial judge was attempting to explain simply provides that:
“Whenever the operation of a vehicle proceeding in the same direction may he affected by such action, the driver of an overtaking vehicle shall give a clearly audible signal thereof by sounding the horn or other warning device before attempting to pass or passing such overtaken vehicle.” ORS 483.310(4).
The instruction was given in terms of the statute and like the statute it was silent as to whether there was a duty to give actual warning.
“Where violation of any of the specific duties defined in these statutes appears, it is, of course, appropriate to instruct in the language of the statute.” Brindle v. McCormick Lbr. & Mfg. Co., 206 Or 333, 337, 293 P2d 221 (1956).
The requirement that an audible signal be given is susceptible-to two meanings; (1) that the operator of the overtaking vehicle give a signal which is heard by the overtaken1 vehicle, Swinkels v. Wisconsin Michigan Power Co., 221 Wis 280, 267 NW 1 (1936); or (2) that the duty is satisfied if the signal is capable of being heard irrespective of whether the operator of the overtaken vehicle hears it, Werner Transp. Co. v. Zimmerman, 201 F2d 687 (7th Cir 1953); McLaughlin v. Curry, 242 Mich 228, 218 NW 698 (1928); Raymond v. Haught, 102 Ohio App 337, 143 NE2d 731 (1956). The plaintiff’s exception did not attack the instruction on the ground that it left uncertain the meaning of the word “audible”; his objection was that the instruction was “broader than the statute,” for the reason that “It is only when other cars are to be affected that that [instruction] should be given.”
Nor was the instruction defective on the ground *399urged by plaintiff; it stated that the plaintiff had a duty to give an audible signal “If the plaintiff would require defendant to give way to the right or keep to his right half of the highway,” which was a specific way of describing how the defendant would be affected by the giving of a signal by plaintiff.
If the instruction was subject to attack on the score of breadth, it was not for the reason stated in the plaintiff’s exception, but because it stated the duty to give a signal upon attempting to pass, without limiting the duty to circumstances in which a reasonable man would give warning. There is language in Spence v. Rasmussen, 190 Or 662, 226 P2d 819 (1951) which supports the view that the statutory duty to give a signal is absolute under such circumstances. In that case the court said:
“* * * Moreover, there is no evidence, nor is there any claim that defendant Hames gave decedent any audible warning with his horn or other warning device as he approached the bicycle. The giving of this warning is a condition precedent to the statutory right to pass, and even if defendant Hames had been in the act of attempting to pass, by reason of his failure to give the warning, any duties that might otherwise have been imposed upon decedent under the statute were never brought into being. Hence no question of ‘right of way’ ever arose as between defendants’ truck and the bicycle.” 190 Or at 686.
This may state the duty too broadly. Marshall v. Mullin, 212 Or 421, 320 P2d 258 (1958) casts some doubt on the rule stated in the Spence case. There the court said:
“ * * * It is plaintiff’s contention that it was not negligent for decedent to fail to sound his horn if a reasonably prudent person would have believed, *400under the circumstances existing, the car he was overtaking would not be affected by his passing movement.”
[ORS 483.310 (4) was set out]
“The trial court correctly stated the law, but the instruction as given might be susceptible of the interpretation sought by the plaintiff. The better practice would be to include in the instruction, when the statutory law is being applied to the facts of the case, the rule of the reasonably prudent person in like or similar circumstances.” 212 Or at 429.
This statement can be taken to mean that although it is the “better practice” to qualify the instruction in terms of the duty of a reasonable man, it is not reversible error if the qualification is not given.
Assuming that the instruction with respect to the operator’s statutory duty expressed in ORS 483.310 (4) should be cast in terms of the duty of a reasonable man, we must decide whether the failure to so qualify the instruction in the present case constituted reversible error. According to plaintiff’s testimony, he began his attempt to pass defendant when he was about one-tenth of a mile from the intersection at which defendant turned. He stated that he blew his horn twice when he was about thirty or forty feet behind the plaintiff. The defendant testified that he signaled a left turn on his directional light signal approximately fifty feet from the curve in the road which- preceded the intersection. The curve was approximately -one hundred yards east of the intersection. Plaintiff estimated that he was eight feet from the left side of defendant’s automobile when defendant turned into the left half of the highway. On the basis of this evidence could- the jury have found that the plaintiff *401would not have violated ORS 483.310 (4) had he failed to give an audible signal?
On the basis of this evidence I think that it could be said as a matter of law that the operation of defendant’s vehicle would “be affected” by plaintiff’s passing movement. This would certainly be true if we apply the statute as we did in Perdue v. Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co., 213 Or 596, 326 P2d 1026 (1958). In that case the fact that the following driver blinked his headlights to indicate that he desired to pass conclusively established that he was aware that the passing movement would “affect” the operation of the vehicle preceding him. Plaintiff’s testimony that he sounded his horn could be given the same effect here. But whether we regard the Perdue case as controlling or not, I do not think that the instruction should be regarded as reversible error. As already indicated, the instruction was not attacked on the ground that it failed to qualify the statement of plaintiff’s duty in terms of the duty of a reasonable man. If a defective instruction is assigned as error the appellant should make known his specific objection to the instruction in making his exception. Garrett v. Eugene Medical Center, 190 Or 117, 224 P2d 563 (1950); Wilson v. State Ind. Acc. Comm., 189 Or 114, 219 P2d 138 (1950); Lee v. Hoff, 163 Or 374, 97 P2d 715 (1940); Weinstein v. Wheeler, 135 Or 518, 257 P 20, 271 P 733, 295 P 196, 296 P 1079, 15 P2d 383 (1931). It is especially important to enforce that rule where there are cases in our reports which tend to support the theory expressed in the instruction and upon which theory the trial court may have formulated the instruction. As I have already indicated, there were at least three Oregon cases (see supra, Perdue v. Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co., Marshall v. Mullin, Spence v. Ras*402mussen) which could he regarded as permitting the instruction given in this case with respect to the duty under ORS 483.310 (4). Considering the instructions as a whole I think that the jury would understand that plaintiff and defendant had reciprocal duties to each other and it concluded that the defendant discharged his duty or that the plaintiff did not act reasonably in attempting to pass.
The majority opinion states that “A driver who cannot see to the rear and who, without warning, turns a slower moving vehicle to the left side of the highway directly into the path of a vehicle engaged in passing is clearly negligent.” If the facts in this case were as recited in the statement above, clearly the defendant would he liable. But the statement can he regarded as representing the facts in this case only if we disregard the defendant’s testimony. Defendant testified that he turned on his directional blinker light to indicate his intention to make a left turn. This was done more than 100 yards to the east of the intersection at which he intended to turn. Further, there was some evidence from which the jury could have concluded that defendant could and did see to the rear before attempting to turn. I dissent.
Perry, J., concurs in this dissent.