Court Opinion

ID: 9586439
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:11:05.567261+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:14.654864
License: Public Domain

Nichols, Presiding Judge,
concurring specially. I concur in the judgment of affirmance but cannot agree with all that is said in the majority opinion. Under the facts in this case a jury question was presented as to whether or not the plaintiff knew that the defendant was intoxicated from consuming alcoholic beverages to the extent that it was less safe for him to operate the motor vehicle than if he had not consumed such alcoholic beverages. Neither can I agree to the disapproval of the language used by Judge Quillian, now Mr. Justice Quillian in the case of Stephenson v. Whiten, 91 Ga. App. 110, supra, and quoted in Staples v. Brown, 96 Ga. App. 176, 178, supra.
While prior to 1953 language had been used which would authorize a finding that a person was “under the influence of intoxicating liquors” whether he had consumed “quantitatively wise” one drop or one gallon, the language used by Judge Quillian in the Stephenson v. Whiten case, supra, shows that it was there the legislative intent that the language “under the influence of intoxicants” means under the influence of intoxicants to the extent that it is less safe for such person to drive and operate a motor vehicle. Section 47 of the Uniform Act regulating drivers on highways (Ga. L. 1953, Nov. Sess., pp. 556, 575), provides that it is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of intoxicating liquors to drive and operate a motor *344vehicle. This same section provides for tests to determine the percentage by weight of alcohol in the defendant’s blood with presumptions as to the defendant’s intoxication or sobriety based upon such percentages.
Therefore, the conclusion that a person is under the influence regardless of quantity consumed is no longer applicable and a fortiori the language used in the Stephenson v. Whiten and Staples v. Brown cases, supra, “If one rides with a driver of a motor vehicle knowing that the driver is under the influence of any intoxicating liquors, he is not in the exercise of ordinary care for his own safety,” means that he knows that the driver is under the influence to the extent that it is less safe for such person to drive and operate a motor vehicle.