Court Opinion

ID: 9597204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:56:29.137587+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:37.214797
License: Public Domain

Lockett, J.,
concurring: I agree with the court on all issues raised, except that I would overrule Hampton v. State Highway Commission, 209 Kan. 565, 498 P.2d 236 (1972), and allow the trier of fact to consider the negligence factor of an occupant of an automobile who fails to use a seat belt.
Hampton is a 1972 case based on a 1970 Alabama decision, Britton v. Doehring, 286 Ala. 498, 242 So. 2d 666 (1970). There the Alabama court determined: (1) there was no statutory authority requiring that seatbelts be installed or that they be used; and (2) admission of evidence of non-use of seat belts would allow the jury to “compare the damages” similarly to comparative negligence, a doctrine unknown to Alabama law. Hampton was decided in 1974 prior to the adoption of comparative negligence by our legislature.
In Taplin v. Clark, 6 Kan. App. 2d 66, 626 P. 2d 1198 (1981), the Court of Appeals stated that under comparative negligence the failure of a passenger of an automobile to use a seat belt was *461not a factor to consider. The Taplin court cited Hampton s conclusion that the existence of such a duty should be left up to the legislature.
Eleven years ago, our legislature required that all new passenger vehicles manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1968, be equipped with a seat belt for all passenger seating positions. K.S.A. 8-1749. In 1984, the legislature required every parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of four to provide a proper passenger safety restraining system while transporting the child in the front seat area of the automobile. K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 8-1344.
This court has recognized the general rule that one must use reasonable diligence to mitigate one’s damages once the risk is known. Atkinson v. Kirkpatrick, 90 Kan. 515, 135 Pac. 579 (1913). No one can deny that seat belts are placed in an automobile to protect the occupants of the vehicle from a known risk. In addition to the seat belt, devices to remind the occupants to use the seat belt are required to be installed, and the operator’s manual furnished by the manufacturer states the hazards of failure to use a seat belt. The failure of an occupant of an automobile to use a seat belt should be a factor relevant to an appraisal of the occupant’s duty to anticipate peril and should apply to the percentage of fault as required by our comparative negligence statute. Where safety standards are set by our leglislature, the failure to exercise the standard of safety should be relevant to the issue of negligence and admissible into evidence.