Court Opinion

ID: 9606259
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:48:33.146878+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:05:37.127742
License: Public Domain

McMurray, Presiding
Judge, dissenting.
The majority of comparative negligence jurisdictions which have considered the seat belt defense have rejected it. See Franklin v. Gibson, 188 Cal. Rptr. 23, 25 (138 Cal. App.3d 340 (1982)); Schmitzer v. Misener-Bennett Ford, 354 NW2d 336, 339, fn. 3 (135 Mich. App. 350 (1984)). In my view, Georgia should join the ranks of the majority because in the absence of legislation to the contrary, the seat-belt defense is unavailable in this State. Insofar as Cullen v. Timm, 184 Ga. App. 80, 83 (360 SE2d 745), cited by the majority, holds to the contrary, it should be overruled.
“The comparative negligence rule in force in this State is that where there is negligence by both parties which is concurrent and contributes to the injury sued for, a recovery by the plaintiff is not barred, but his damages shall be diminished by an amount propor*199tioned to the amount of fault attributable to him, provided that his fault is less than the defendant’s, and that, by the exercise of ordinary care, he could have avoided the consequences of the defendant’s negligence after it became apparent or in the exercise of ordinary care should have been discovered by the plaintiff. City of Ocilla v. Luke, 28 Ga. App. 234 (110 SE 757).” Rogers v. McKinley, 48 Ga. App. 262, 265 (172 SE 662). This rule is a departure from the common-law doctrine of contributory negligence. Nevertheless, in order to invoke the comparative negligence rule, a defendant must demonstrate negligence on the part of the plaintiff.
Negligence entails the existence of a legal duty; the failure to exercise ordinary care with respect to the duty; and a resulting injury. Patillo v. Thompson, 106 Ga. App. 808, 811, 812 (128 SE2d 656). The existence of a legal duty is an essential element in the negligence formula. If there is no duty, there can be no negligence. Southern R. Co. v. Liley, 75 Ga. App. 489, 493 (43 SE2d 576).
Plaintiff’s failure to use a seat belt cannot be said to be a breach of a legal duty. The use of seat belts is not compulsory in this state. A plaintiff “buckles up” — or fails to “buckle up” — as a matter of course and without regard to particular acts of negligence. This is as it must be. Drivers are not clairvoyant. They are entitled to rely on the presumption that other drivers will not act negligently. See Glynn Plymouth v. Davis, 120 Ga. App. 475, 487 (170 SE2d 848), aff'd 226 Ga. 221 (173 SE2d 691). Thus, a plaintiff has no duty to fasten a seat belt because he or she has no way of knowing that he or she will be exposed to a defendant’s negligence. Rogers v. Johnson, 94 Ga. App. 666, 678 (96 SE2d 285). The inherent difficulty in a contrary “thesis is identifying when [plaintiff’s] failure to ‘buckle up’ became a breach of [her] duty to use ordinary care. Obviously, the breach had to have occurred prior to the accident. To assert that [plaintiff] had a duty to use ordinary care by ‘buckling up’ at some point between entering [her car] and immediately prior to the occurrence of the [accident] imputes to [plaintiff] the anticipation that an accident would occur. But, as a matter of law, [plaintiff] had the right to assume that other drivers would obey traffic laws and use reasonable care.” Schmitzer v. Misener-Bennett Ford, 354 NW2d 336, 340, supra.
In the case sub judice, plaintiff did not know or have a reason to anticipate that defendant would act negligently until immediately before the collision. It cannot be said, therefore, that plaintiff had a legal duty to fasten her seat belt. She had a right to rely on the presumption that defendant would not act negligently.
Assuming, arguendo, that the seat-belt defense is available in Georgia, I would still feel compelled to dissent in this case. “Recent decisions have held that there is no presumption that nonuse of seat belts caused or aggravated a party’s injuries. Consequently, compe*200tent expert or other testimony must be submitted which establish that the injuries of a party would have been reduced or minimized if seat belts had been used, or were caused or aggravated by the failure to use a seat belt.” Grobe v. Valley Garbage Svc., 551 P2d 748, 756 (Wash. 1976). No such evidence was presented in this case. Plaintiff was simply asked whether she was wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision. She replied that she was not. Standing alone, this evidence does not show what the consequences to plaintiff would have been if she had been wearing a seat belt. In the absence of expert opinion concerning such consequences, evidence of seat belt use or non-use should be deemed inadmissible. Grobe v. Valley Garbage Svc., 551 P2d 748, 756, supra; Franklin v. Gibson, 188 Cal.Rptr. 23, 24, supra.
Decided November 16, 1987
Rehearing denied December 4, 1987
Ralph E. Hughes, for appellant.
Frank E. Jenkins III, Mark A. Barber, for appellee.
In sum, in my view the trial court erred in admitting evidence of plaintiff’s failure to use a seat belt. Moreover, I am of the opinion that the error was harmful, requiring a new trial. The evidence was irrelevant and prejudicial. Placek v. City of Sterling Heights, 217 NW2d 900, 901, 902 (Mich. App. 1974). “We have no way of knowing what consideration the jury attributed to plaintiff’s failure to wear her seat belt ... We cannot assume that the testimony elicited did not improperly influence them in their decision ...” Placek v. City of Sterling Heights, 217 NW2d 901, 902, supra.
The judgment of the trial court should be reversed as to Case No. 75062.
I am authorized to state that Judge Carley, Judge Pope, and Judge Benham join in this dissent.