Court Opinion

ID: 9699129
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 20:11:18.006926+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:46.726262
License: Public Domain

NIERENGARTEN, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the majority decision because of its result and I agree that the facts of this case show Lintel rendered “reasonable assistance” under the circumstances. However, I do not agree with the suggestion that Minn.Stat. § 169.09, subd. 3 gives rise to a private cause of action.
Section 169.09 is intended primarily for informational and statistical purposes and to ensure highway traffic accidents are duly reported. Violations of Minn.Stat. § 169.09, subd. 3(a) are punishable by criminal sanctions. See Minn.Stat. § 169.09, subd. 14(d) (Supp.1983) (violation of subdivision 3(a) is a misdemeanor); see also Minn.Stat. § 609.02, subd. 3 (defining misdemeanors as crimes). I would adhere to the time-honored maxim of statutory construction: Expressio unius exclusio alteri-us est. Since the legislature expressly imposed criminal sanctions, it must have intentionally omitted civil liability. Had the legislature intended to allow civil liability, it could have done so. Cf. Minn.Stat. § 626.557, subd. 7(b) (1986) (a person required to report under the Vulnerable *559Adult Act “who negligently or intentionally fails to report is liable for damages caused by the failure”).