Court Opinion

ID: 9704368
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:33:10.350015+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:01.312085
License: Public Domain

CRAVEN, J., dissenting: My colleagues reverse and remand this case for a new trial so that the jury may determine whether the relationship between the decedent and the defendant was that of guest or passenger. As I view this record, the trial court was correct in determining that the decedent was a passenger as a matter of law. Although other matters are discussed in the opinion, the reversal and remandment are predicated upon this single issue. I must respectfully dissent. A guest is one who is invited, directly or by implication, to enjoy hospitality of the driver and who accepts the hospitality for either business or pleasure without making any return. See Miller v. Miller, 395 Ill 273, 69 NE2d 878 (1946). The facts in this record disclose that the decedent was transported to and from work by the defendant each working day except on Mondays when the decedent drove his own car in order to facilitate his attendance at National Guard drills. According to the evidence, the decedent and the defendant’s son, who were friends, talked the defendant into this arrangement. It seems to me that the evidence is uncontradicted that the decedent purchased gasoline for the defendant’s car with some semblance of regularity. A conflict in the evidence relates solely to the frequency of the purchase rather than to the fact of the purchase, and as I view it, the frequency of purchase is immaterial. In Summers v. Summers, 40 Ill2d 338, 239 NE2d 795 (1968), the Supreme Court reviewed the origin and purpose of the guest statute (Ill Rev Stats 1965, c 95%, par 9-201 et seq.) and the court held, as a matter of law, that an owner-passenger in an automobile was not a guest within the meaning of the guest statute. In its discussion of the statute, the court clearly established a rule of strict construction of our guest statute as being in derogation of a common-law remedy. The evidence in this case establishes that there was an arrangement for transportation; that the arrangement contemplated regular and continuous transportation to and from work; that the decedent regularly set aside money to purchase gasoline; that the arrangement was mutually advantageous from an economic point of view; and that the arrangement was initiated and continued entirely without reference to any social aspects or any gratuitous hospitality. As I view it, the decedent was a passenger as a matter of law. McNanna v. Gach, 51 Ill App2d 276, 201 NE2d 191 (1st Dist 1964). Therefore, I dissent from that portion of the opinion that reverses and remands this case for a jury determination of the decedent’s status.