Harlow Ex Rel. Harlow v. Connelly

548 S.W.2d 143, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 640
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 21, 1977
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 548 S.W.2d 143 (Harlow Ex Rel. Harlow v. Connelly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harlow Ex Rel. Harlow v. Connelly, 548 S.W.2d 143, 1977 Ky. App. LEXIS 640 (Ky. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinions

PARK, Judge:

This action was commenced in the Boyle Circuit Court to recover for personal injuries suffered by Johnny Lynn Harlow on January 16, 1973, while riding as a passenger in an automobile owned by Edward W. Connelly and driven by his daughter Elisabeth Lee Connelly. As Johnny Lynn Harlow was a minor at the time the action was commenced, the action was instituted by his father as next friend. The trial court sustained the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and Harlow prosecutes this appeal from the judgment entered dismissing the complaint.

Two issues are raised by this appeal. First, was Johnny Lynn Harlow contributo-rily negligent as a matter of law by riding with Elisabeth Lee Connelly at a time when she was intoxicated? Second, was Ms. Con-nelly’s conduct on the occasion in question such that it constituted wanton or gross negligence which would not be barred by any contributory negligence on the part of Harlow?

In concluding that Harlow was contributorily negligent as a matter of law, the trial court applied the three-fold test enunciated in Isaac v. Allen, Ky., 429 S.W.2d 37 (1968). As stated by the Court of Appeals:

“ * * * the question must be left to the jury unless three things are obvious, (1) that the driver had been drinking to the extent that his ability to drive was affected, (2) that the person electing to ride with him must have known it, and (3) that a prudent person faced with the same choice under like circumstances would not have ridden with the driver.” 429 S.W.2d at 40.

The parties agree that this test should be applied in this case, but they would reach different results.

With respect to the first test, it is clear that the trial court correctly concluded as a matter of law that the driver, Elisabeth Lee Connelly, had been drinking to the extent that her ability to drive was affected. Ms. Connelly was traveling at a high rate of speed when she lost control of the automobile and crashed. She admitted that her judgment was impaired as a result of her drinking. In his brief before the trial court, Harlow argued that he was injured because Ms. Connelly was operating her automobile “at a high rate of speed in a state of intoxication so great that she did not know what she was doing or the speed she was traveling.” In his appellate brief, Harlow concedes that the first test of the Isaac case was satisfied and that Ms. Con-nelly was intoxicated at the time of the accident. The trial court did not err in holding that Ms. Connelly had been drinking to the extent that her ability to drive was affected.

A more serious problem is raised with respect to the second test in the Isaac case. A short narrative of the undisputed facts is required in order to dispose of this issue.

At the time of the accident, Johnny Harlow was seventeen years of age. By an order of the juvenile session of the Boyle County Court, Harlow had been committed to the Department of Child Welfare for an indeterminate period on November 21,1972. At the time, Elisabeth Lee Connelly was employed as a social worker by the Department of Child Welfare. She was twenty-five years of age. Ms. Connelly had been acquainted with Harlow through her capacity as a foster care worker.

At approximately nine o’clock on the evening of the accident, Harlow and another juvenile, Troy Stratton, caught a ride to Ms. Connelly’s residence, a cabin on the [145]*145Wells Landing Road. Troy Stratton was sixteen years of age at the time. Ms. Con-nelly was not at the cabin when Harlow and Stratton arrived, but she returned to her cabin approximately ten minutes later. At that time, Harlow observed that Ms. Con-nelly was drinking from 'a sixteen ounce can of beer. .

Harlow and Stratton remained at Ms. Connelly’s cabin for several hours. The parties consumed various quantities of different alcoholic beverages. On his deposition, Harlow admitted that he observed Ms. Connelly drink the can of beer, a quantity of wine, and a small amount of gin. Strat-ton testified that both he and Ms. Connelly were intoxicated. Ms. Connelly could not recall exactly what she drank the night in question.

At approximately 12:30 Ms. Connelly, Harlow and Stratton all drove to Danville in the Connelly automobile for the purpose of buying beer, as they had consumed all of the intoxicants at the cabin. The search for beer in Danville proved a failure, and the accident occurred at approximately 1:00 a. m. as the three were returning to Ms. Con-nelly’s cabin on the Wells Landing Road. According to Harlow, Ms. Connelly was traveling at approximately 90 m. p. h.when she lost control of her automobile.

According to Stratton, Harlow noted Ms. Connelly’s erratic driving while they were in Danville. However, Harlow testified that Ms. Connelly never appeared intoxicated to him and that he noticed nothing unusual about her driving until they were returning from Danville to the cabin. In answer to a question whether he thought Ms. Connelly was “cold sober,” Harlow testified:

“Maybe not cold sober, but, you know, I didn’t think she had that much.”

He also testified that he noticed Ms. Con-nelly speeding up to over 90 miles per hour approximately five to seven hundred yards from the point of the accident. Harlow further contends that he asked her to slow down, but he did not ask her to let him out.

Harlow argues that a jury issue was raised with respect to his knowledge of Ms. Connelly’s intoxication merely by his denial that he knew she was intoxicated. We disagree. Harlow had been drinking with Ms. Connelly for more than three hours. He observed her consume at least three different types of alcoholic beverages. The parties left the Connelly cabin for the sole purpose of securing additional intoxicating beverages which they intended to consume. Ms. Connelly was admittedly intoxicated. Under these circumstances, the law will not permit Harlow.to deny that he did not know of her condition.

Much of Harlow’s appellate brief is devoted to the argument that there was a jury issue whether Harlow himself was intoxicated. Harlow admitted that he had consumed whiskey, beer, wine, and gin prior to the accident. However, whether he was in fact intoxicated is immaterial. The law imposes the same degree of care upon a voluntarily intoxicated person as is imposed upon a sober person of ordinary prudence under similar circumstances. Wootton v. Dixon, 312 Ky. 521, 228 S.W.2d 428 (1950); Straughan’s Adm’r v. Fendley, 301 Ky. 209, 191 S.W.2d 391 (1945).

Harlow makes the point that he was a minor at the time of the collision, and he argues that he should not be held to the same standard of care as an adult. A minor plaintiff is under the duty to exercise that degree of care for his own safety as would usually be exercised by an ordinarily prudent minor of the same age, intelligence and experience of the plaintiff. Williamson v. Garland, Ky., 402 S.W.2d 80 (1966). Harlow’s minority has no real significance when this standard is applied to the facts in the case. Harlow had been seventeen years of age since the previous September.

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Harlow Ex Rel. Harlow v. Connelly
548 S.W.2d 143 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1977)

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