JOHN C. HARVEY, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, APPELLEE; JOHN C. HARVEY, APPELLANT, V. PAUL M. CROW, JR., APPELLEE
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Guest passenger John Harvey sued Florida Power & Light Company and its truck driver Paul Crow for injuries from an intersection collision. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendants, but the appellate court reversed, finding that whether Crow negligently failed to reduce speed at a caution light presented a jury question that should not have been decided as a matter of law.
The summary judgments were improperly entered. The negligence of Harvey's host-driver cannot be imputed to him as a guest passenger, and whether Crow negligently failed to decrease speed at the caution-light intersection presented a jury question that should have been submitted to the jury rather than decided as a matter of law.
“Plaintiff, appellant here, contends that the negligence of his host-driver may not be imputed to him. This point is well taken.”
Establishes that guest passenger cannot be charged with host-driver's negligence
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHarvey was a guest passenger in a vehicle traveling south that failed to stop at a red light and struck Crow's eastbound truck at an intersection. Cro…
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Pursuant to prior order of this court, the above cases were consolidated for the purpose of preparing and filing of record on appeal, briefing and oral argument.
The appellant filed these actions as plaintiff against the appellee, Paul M. Crow, Jr., as the driver of a truck owned by the appellee, Florida Power & Light Company, seeking damages as a result of an intersection accident. The trial court granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgments, and a review of these judgments is sought by this proceeding.
The accident in question occurred from the following circumstances: The vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding as a guest passenger was travelling south, approaching an intersection which required his host-driver to stop. This intersection was marked by a flashing red light and customary stop sign. The host-driver did not stop and proceeded through the intersection, when he struck the truck owned by the power company and operated by the defendant Crow, which vehicle had been travelling in an easterly direction on a through street, although the intersection was marked with a flashing caution light. The Metropolitan Code of Dade County, § 407-2, provides that drivers of vehicles may proceed through an intersection marked by such a signal only with caution, and it has a further Ordinance, 13.02, in reference to special hazards which reads as follows:
“The fact that the speed of a vehicle is lower than the lawful limits shall not relieve the driver from the duty to decrease speed when approaching and crossing an intersection * * * ”.
The speed limit for both parties was 30 miles per hour, and the testimony was that the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding was travelling between 30 and 40 miles per hour, and the truck, which was being operated by the defendant Crow, at a speed between 25 and 40 miles per hour. It is apparent from the record that the defendant Crow did not decrease his speed, and a jury, under the evidence, could have found that the defendant Crow was exceeding the speed limit, which would be prima facie evidence of reckless driving. Bryant v. City of Tampa, Fla.App.1958, 100 So.2d 665. The defendant Crow testified that he did not see the vehicle in which plaintiff was riding, until immediately prior to the impact. The evidence indicates that the view of the respective drivers of the vehicles at the intersection was unobstructed, and each should have been able to see the other.
The trial court found, as a matter of law, that the defendants were entitled to a judgment. Plaintiff, appellant here, contends that the negligence of his host-driver may not be imputed to him. This point is well taken. See: Abrams v. Gresham, et *11al., Fla.App.1961, 131 So.2d 207. The appellant further contends that it was a jury-question as to whether or not the defendant Crow, as the driver of the truck approaching an intersection with a flashing caution light, was negligent in admittedly not decreasing his rate of speed, and urges that this case must he reversed on the authority of Vihon v. McCormick, et al., Fla.App. 1958, 109 So.2d 400. This contention seems to be amply supported by the cited case. The facts are almost identical, the only distinction being that in the cited case the driver of the vehicle, in a similar position to Crow, testified that he saw the oncoming vehicle and expected it to stop; whereas the defendant Crow, in these proceedings, testified that he did not see the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding, which is not a sufficient distinction to prevent its applicability to this case.
Therefore, for the reasons stated, the summary judgments were improperly entered and this cause is reversed with directions to submit the issues made by the pleadings to a jury.
Reversed with directions.
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Cash v. Harriette A. Gates and Harley D. Gates, 151 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963)…liance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to use due care.” In urging that Defendant Adams violated the above ordinance, appellant relies quite heavily upon the recent case of Harvey v. Florida Power & Light Company, Fla.App. 1962, 136 So. 2d 9, a per curiam opinion by the Third District Court of Appeal. In that case, however, the evidence showed that the defendant was operating his truck at a speed of between 25 and 40 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour speed limit zone. In reviewing th…
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Riley v. Hattie Mae Jackson, 246 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)…and Pope that the trial judge erroneously permitted their co-defendants to read the Dade County Traffic Ordinance to this jury. See Jackson v. Florida Weathermakers, Fla.1952, 55 So. 2d 575; and Harvey v. Florida Power & Light Company, Fla.App.1962, 136 So. 2d 9. The final judgment is Affirmed.…
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Poppy K. Chimerakis and James Chimerakis v. Evans, 221 So. 2d 735 (Fla. 1969)…glass v. Sapotnick, 126 Fla. 753, 171 So. 765 (1937). . Griffith v. Shamrock Village, Inc., 94 So. 2d 854 (Fla.1957) ; Stafford v. Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co., 179 So. 2d 232 (Fla.App.2nd 1965). . Harvey v. Florida Power & Light Co., 136 So. 2d 9 (Fla.App.3rd 1962); Bryant v. City of Tampa, 100 So. 2d 665 (Fla.App.2nd 1958).…
Authorities Cited
- Bryant v. City OF Tampa, 100 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958)
- Buffalo Indus. Bank v. Rose, 109 So. 2d 400 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)
- Abrams v. Gresham, 131 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)