Court Opinion

ID: 9612228
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:06:05.769473+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:20.194698
License: Public Domain

Smith, J.
(dissenting): I find myself unable to concur in the opinion of the majority. The construction placed on G. S. 1949, 68-419 is too strict. The statute has the effect of placing a limitation of ninety days on the bringing of an action against the state highway commission on account of a defective state highway. That is bad enough without this court placing such a narrow construction on it as to deprive some of our citizens of the full ninety days to give the required notice.
The effect of this decision is to give only a litigant with counsel residing in Shawnee county the full ninety days. One whose counsel lived in Goodland or Elkhart or any other of the more or less distant cities of the state would have at the most only eighty-six, eighty-seven, eighty-eight or eighty-nine days, depending on the swiftness and efficiency of the postal service. The legislature never did intend such an unfair and unjust result. A holding that the service of notice was complete when it was deposited in the mails, properly addressed and duly registered would avoid such a result. The legislature intended such to be the case. The provision the notice might be made by registered mail would not have been included in the statute otherwise.
The state highway director is in his .office for only the customary eight hours a day. His duties take him to various places in the state and to points in the United States beyond the state. For some days due to fortuitous circumstances there is no state highway director. The narrow construction placed on the statute by the majority opinion would make it impossible to get service on that official and thus avoid the bar of the statute at any time except during the eight hours while he was in the office and the bar could not be avoided. *348No action could be brought at all if the end of ninety days came any time while the office was vacant. The legislature never intended any such an absurd result.