BIRDIE DORSETT, APPELLANT,
v.
LAWRENCE ROGER DION, SR., AND LAWRENCE ROGER DION, JR., APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In a comparative negligence automobile accident case, the trial court properly admitted evidence that the plaintiff was driving with an illegally held learner's permit, as it had causal connection to the accident, and the jury verdict was adequate.
Evidence that a driver was operating a vehicle with an illegally held learner's permit is admissible in a negligence action when it has causal connection to the accident.
[1] Evidence of a driver's illegal license status is admissible in a negligence action when there is a causal connection between the improper license and the accident.
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff Birdie Dorsett was injured in an automobile accident while illegally driving with a learner's permit. She appealed the jury verdict in this …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Automobile Negligence cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The plaintiff appeals a final judgment upon a jury verdict and assigns as error the denial of her motion for a new trial which was predicated upon an alleged inadequate verdict. The cause was an automobile negligence action tried under the theory of comparative negligence. We affirm.
The only point requiring discussion here is appellant’s contention that the trial court erred in allowing evidence that the plaintiff was illegally driving with a learner’s permit at the time of the accident. She relies upon the holding of this court in Goldner v. Len-tin, 96 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957), for reversible error. In that case, the court held that the refusal of a trial court to admit into evidence that the driver of a motor scooter was operating the scooter under a restricted driver’s license was not error where there was no causal connection between the collision and the fact that the operator of the scooter was operating the scooter under a restricted driver’s license. In the present case, the trial court admitted the evidence upon his determination that it was relevant and that it could be found to have causal connection. We think that the trial judge was right in each instance. In this case, it is clear that there was no contact between plaintiff’s automobile and defendant’s automobile and that the plaintiff’s injury may well have resulted from her own inexperience and her inability to handle her own car. Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Brackin v. Boles, 452 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 1984)…1st DCA 1982), which directly and expressly conflicts with several decisions of the Third District Court of Appeal, Corbett v. Seaboard Coastline Railroad, 375 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), review denied, 383 So. 2d 1202 (Fla.1980); Dorsett v. Dion, 347 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); and Goldner v. Lentin, 96 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. This cause concerns the admissibility, in a civil trial, of the results of a blood alcohol test and a violation of the…1 / 2
-
Corbett v. Seaboard Coastline R.R. Co., 375 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)…o the admissibility of the evidence depends upon the existence of a causal connection between the failure to have a license and the alleged negligence causing the accident. Goldner v. Lentin, 96 So. 2d 553 (Fla.3d DCA 1957); and see Dorsett v. Dion, 347 So. 2d 826 (Fla.3d DCA 1977). In each of these cases the license invoked was in existence and was a restricted license. In Goldner, the evidence was excluded; in Dorsett, it was admitted; in each ease, no error was found. The causal connection test was quoted…
-
Boles v. Brackin, 411 So. 2d 280 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…dence because the violation of the license restrictions could not be causally connected to the traffic accident, citing to a trio of cases from the Third District Court of Appeal: Goldner v. Lentin, 96 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957); Dorsett v. Dion, 347 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Corbett v. Seaboard Coastline Railroad Co., 375 So. 2d 34 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). We do not need to reach the issue whether the record supports such a causal connection as we feel the causation predicate established by the Third Dis…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Goldner v. Lentin, 96 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957)