Kaplan v. Hauf

492 P.2d 213, 158 Mont. 359, 1971 Mont. LEXIS 381
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 15, 1971
DocketNo. 12013
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 492 P.2d 213 (Kaplan v. Hauf) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaplan v. Hauf, 492 P.2d 213, 158 Mont. 359, 1971 Mont. LEXIS 381 (Mo. 1971).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE HASWELL

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This is a personal injury action by a passenger in an automobile involved in a two-car collision in a Bozeman intersection against the driver of the car in which he was riding, his driver’s employer, and the driver of the second car involved. From a judgment entered on a jury verdict in the district court of Gallatin County in favor of all defendants and denial of his motion for a new trial, plaintiff appeals.

Plaintiff and appellant is Gerald Kaplan, a Jewish Rabbi from Butte, who was in Bozeman participating in a televised panel discussion relating to religious needs of patients, which was sponsored by the Montana State University school of nursing. Defendants and respondents are Judith Edwards Hauf, an instructor in the Montana State University school of nursing who was driving plaintiff in her car to catch a bus when the accident occurred; the State of Montana, Board of Education, Mrs. Hauf’s employer; and Paul David Pattee, a high school student, who was the driver of the other car involved in the accident.

The accident forming the basis of this ease occurred about 8:15 a.m. on May 11, 1966 at the intersection of North Third Avenue and West Beall Street in Bozeman. One of the vehicles involved was a 1965 Mercury automobile owned and driven by [362]*362defendant Hauf in which plaintiff was riding as a front seat passenger; this vehicle was proceeding north on North Third Avenue attempting to catch plaintiff’s Butte-bound bus which they had missed at the bus depot. The other vehicle involved in the collision was a 1957 Chevrolet station wagon driven by defendant Pattee and carrying a schoolmate as a passenger; this vehicle was traveling west on West Beall Street carrying its occupants to high school. It was a rainy morning in Bozeman and as these two cars entered the intersection at North Third and West Beall, the front end of the Hauf car struck the left side of the Pattee vehicle. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff claimed injuries for which he seeks damages in the instant case.

The evidence at the trial indicated that plaintiff had been invited to Bozeman to participate in a panel discussion to be video taped and to be shown on closed circuit television to the freshman class of Montana State University school of nursing. Plaintiff had been so invited by defendant Hauf; it was agreed that Montana State University would take care of plaintiff’s general expenses for participating in this production, all of which was approved by Hauf’s supervisor. On plaintiff’s arrival in Bozeman, Hauf met him at the bus depot and took him to the television studio at Montana State University. After the production was concluded Hauf took plaintiff to his motel and made arrangements to pick him up the next morning and take him to the bus depot for his return trip to Butte. Hauf admitted that her driving of Kaplan to and from the bus was the type of expense that Montana State University would reimburse plaintiff for had he hired a taxi for this purpose. Plaintiff was ultimately paid a flat amount by cheek from Montana State University bearing the notation “Honorarium for Visiting Lecturer”.

Hauf picked up plaintiff the next morning at his motel and drove him to the bus depot for his return to Butte. As they approached the bus depot, the bus was departing and proceeding west on Main Street. Accordingly, Hauf decided to try and intercept the bus on North Seventh Avenue where she had prev[363]*363iously seen it stop to pick up passengers. The accident at the intersection of North Third and West Beall occurred before the Hauf vehicle reached North Seventh Avenue.

The evidence showed this was plaintiff’s first time in Bozeman and he was unfamiliar with the streets here. Plaintiff did not know how to drive a car and had no driver’s license.

Following trial the jury returned a verdict in favor of all defendants. Judgment was entered on this verdict. Subsequently plaintiff moved for a new trial which was denied. This appeal followed.

The issues upon appeal, with one exception, all relate to the giving or refusal of certain jury instructions and will be considered individually in the discussion that follows.

The first issue for review upon appeal is whether the district court erred in its instruction on the definition of “guest” and “passenger”. This instruction was court’s instruction No. 11 which read as follows:

“An occupant of a vehicle, other than the driver, is either a ‘guest’ or a ‘passenger’. The distinction made by law between a guest and a passenger will now be explained to you.

“A ‘guest’ is one who is invited, either expressly or by implication, to enjoy the hospitality of the driver of the vehicle; who accepts such hospitality; and who takes a ride in such vehicle, either for his own pleasure or on his own business, without making any return to or conferring any benefit upon the driver of the vehicle as compensation for the ride.

“An occupant is a ‘passenger’ when the driver receives some tangible benefit, in money or otherwise, which is a motivating influence for the rider’s transportation and which is understood by both to be, and is given and received as, compensation for the ride. In the event there are also other motivating influences for the rider’s transportation, such tangible benefit, not their pleasure, kindness or friendship alone, must be the principal inducement for the ride to constitute compensation.”

Plaintiff’s objection to this instruction on settlement reads as follows:

[364]*364“MR. SEDIVY: The Plaintiff objects to the giving of Defendant Hauf’s No. 10 on the grounds that the instruction fails to include, for example in Paragraph 2 concerning benefit or return be not to the driver or the principal involved, which is the essential element in this case and I would refer the Court to Plaintiff’s proposed Instruction No. 20 which does cover this more fully and I also object to the third paragraph, that is clearly not the law with the regard to the issue of guest passengers and the law is stated in * * * Plaintiff’s proposed 20.”

A second related instruction is court’s instruction No. 12 which reads as follows:

“A driver is not subject to liability for any injury to his guest unless such injury proximately resulted from gross negligence on the part of the driver.”

Plaintiff’s objection was as follows:

“MR. SEDIVY: The Plaintiff will object to No. 9 of the Defendant Hauf on the grounds that it is not a statement of the law as set forth in the statute concerning guest passengers in Montana and a guest passenger statute should be given, what is the law on the particular subject.”

The vice in these instructions is that they bind the jury to find plaintiff Kaplan to be a guest since it is clear from the evidence that Hauf received no benefit individually from Kaplan’s presence in Bozeman. However, Hauf’s employer, Montana State University, clearly received a benefit. Where a driver acting within the scope of his employment is carrying a passenger in a motor vehicle for the direct benefit of the driver’s employer, such passenger is not a ‘guest passenger’ who assumes the ordinary negligence of the driver, but is a passenger for hire to whom the ‘guest statute’ does not apply. Accordingly, the instruction as given is incorrect and clearly prejudicial to the plaintiff.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bahm v. Dormanen
543 P.2d 379 (Montana Supreme Court, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 P.2d 213, 158 Mont. 359, 1971 Mont. LEXIS 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaplan-v-hauf-mont-1971.