RICHARD WEISS, APPELLANT,
v.
BROOKE AMSEL BALLAGH, APPELLEE
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The court held that it was error to submit the question of whether the plaintiff was within the class excepted from the guest statute to the jury, as a college student being transported from a place of learning falls within that exception.
The plaintiff was a passenger in a car driven by the defendant, both of whom were college students. The plaintiff sued for simple negligence after an …
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This is an appeal from a jury verdict and judgment for the defendant in an automobile negligence case.
The plaintiff was a passenger in the car driven by the defendant. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were students at the University of South Florida. The defendant was going to the home of his parents for the weekend, and the plaintiff, whose home was in Lakeland, was going to the home of his brother for the weekend.
The complaint alleged simple negligence. At a pre-trial conference the plaintiff’s counsel declined to amend the complaint to include the count of gross negligence. The answer denied negligence, and also challenged the materiality of the fact that both parties were students at the University of South Florida at the time of the accident.
Two questions were submitted to the jury: (1) whether or not the plaintiff was in the class (i. e,, school children) excepted from the guest statute, F.S.A. § 320.59; and (2) the negligence of the defendant.
It was error to submit the first question to the jury. In the case of Nordone v. Richardson, Fla.App., 168 So.2d 550, opinion filed November 3, 1964, Third Dis*531trict of Florida, it was held that a college student came within the exception to the statute. The record clearly establishes that the plaintiff was being “transported * * * from * * * [a] place (s) of learning.”
Accordingly, the cause is reversed with directions to grant a new trial on the question of simple negligence of the defendant.
Reversed.
SHANNON, Acting C. J., and WHITE, J., concur.
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Fink v. Bassing, 29 Fla. Supp. 58 (Broward Cty. Cir. Ct. 1967)…plaintiff’s recovery for that Linda falls within the statutory exception to the Guest Statute in that she was a student being transported to a school or place of learning in this state when the accident occurred. See Weiss v. Ballagh, Fla.App. 1964, 169 So. 2d 530; Nordone v. Richardson, Fla.App.1964, 168 So. 2d 550; but see Farrey v. Bettendorf, Fla.1957, 96 So. 2d 889; Moore v. Schortinghouse, Fla.App.1966, 189 So. 2d 377. In Farrey v. Bettendorf, supra, the court in applying the statute held that a high s…
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Ballagh v. Weiss, 177 So. 2d 13 (Fla. 1965)…Certiorari dismissed without opinion. 169 So. 2d 530.…
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Honour v. Bogert, 255 So. 2d 690 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971)…picking them up after they have left the school, [*692] the automobile host may evade his responsibility to exercise that degree of care which an ordinarily prudent person would exercise in the transportation of such children.” In Weiss v. Ballagh, 169 So. 2d 530 (Fla.App.1964), the court held that a student at the University of South Florida in Tampa whose home was in Lakeland came within the student exception to the guest statute while he was a passenger in a fellow student’s car when the defendant host an…
Authorities Cited
- Stevenson v. Consol. Mut. Ins. Co., 168 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964)