Court Opinion

ID: 9844850
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:10:18.247138+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:45.181276
License: Public Domain

CARMODY, Justice (dissenting). The statute here involved, § 64 — 24-1, N.M.S.A.1953, was passed by the New Mexico legislature in 1935. Since that time, it has been before this court on numerous occasions and I believe up until today it has been felt by all those who have studied the question that our decisions and those of the highest court of Connecticut, our having adopted the statute from that state, required a showing of considerably more than mere negligence on the part of the driver. Even as late as June 1958, this court reaffirmed a prior holding that in order for a guest to recover, there must be some substantial evidence of a particular state of mind on the part of the driver; that this state of mind comprehends evidence of utter irresponsibility on the part of the defendant or of a conscious abandonment of any consideration for the safety of passengers. Potter v. Wilson, 1958, 64 N.M. 211, 326 P.2d 1093. In Gomez v. Rodriguez, 1957, 62 N.M. 274, 308 P.2d 989, and in Potter v. Wilson, supra, we found that there was substantial evidence to comprehend this state of mind on the part of the driver. However, otherwise we have fairly consistently followed the decisions of the Connecticut Supreme Court, before the repeal of their statute, in such cases as Smith v. Meadows, 1952, 56 N.M. 242, 242 P.2d 1006, and Carpenter v. Yates, 1954, 58 N.M. 513, 273 P.2d 373, to mention only two. The effect of the instant decision goes a great deal further than we have ever gone before, and considerably further than I believe we should. Actually, this case is very similar to Gill v. Hayes, 1940, 188 Okl. 434, 108 P.2d 117, in which the Supreme Court of Oklahoma construed our New Mexico statute and held, in effect, that even though negligence was amply shown, it was not sufficient to show a willingness to inflict injury upon a guest and therefore denied relief to the plaintiff. The Oklahoma decision was quoted at some length and approved by us in Smith v. Meadows, supra. In the present case there is obvious negligence, but no showing whatsoever of a state of irresponsibility of mind on the part of the driver. The majority opinion is a substantial departure from our prior rulings and will tend to confuse both courts and attorneys 'as to the actual meaning of the so-called guest statute. If it is felt that the strict construction of the statute as interpreted by this court and others is not satisfactory, then it is a matter for the legislature and not for the court. The legislature has had before it on several occasons, including the session which has recently adjourned, proposals to amend the so-called guest statute. It has failed to take any action and the statute remains as originally passed. However, by the construction now placed upon it, the court has not only departed from precedents of long standing but has, in effect, legislated as well. Feeling as I do, therefore, I dissent.