Court Opinion

ID: 9794530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:07:40.209286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:33.423853
License: Public Domain

SLOAN, J.,
dissenting.
Plaintiff testified that he was walking on the shoulder of the highway, one or two feet from the edge of the pavement. The shoulder was about three feet wide. Defendant testified that plaintiff was walking in the middle of the north bound lane of traffic. If the jury had seen fit to believe plaintiff’s testimony it would follow that the statute relied on by the majority would have had little significance. The jury could have inferred .that defendant may have suddenly swerved onto the shoulder.
However, the basic fault of the majority is that it would bar every pedestrian from recovery regardless of how far he may be walking from the paved portion of the highway. I cannot agree with this unequivocal adherence to the statute adopted by the majority here and in Zahara v. Brandli, 1939, 162 Or 666, 673, 678, 94 P2d 718. The majority would also foreclose consideration of traffic, weather, visibility and other conditions that may, in a given case, make strict application of the statute irrelevant. The judgment should be affirmed.