Langness v. Fernstrom Storage & Van Co.

253 F. Supp. 879, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7773
CourtDistrict Court, D. North Dakota
DecidedApril 26, 1966
DocketCiv. No. 4196
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 253 F. Supp. 879 (Langness v. Fernstrom Storage & Van Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. North Dakota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langness v. Fernstrom Storage & Van Co., 253 F. Supp. 879, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7773 (D.N.D. 1966).

Opinion

REGISTER, Chief Judge.

Pursuant to Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Defendant’s counsel has served and filed a Motion to Dismiss, premised on the grounds that (a) the Court lacks jurisdiction over [880]*880the Defendants, (b) there has been insufficiency of process, and (c) there has been insufficiency of service of process, The matter has been fully briefed and is submitted without oral argument, by virtue of the provisions of Rule V of the rules of this Court.

This is a personal injury action wherein the Plaintiff alleges that he is a citizen of the State of North Dakota and that the Defendants are citizens of the State of Illinois. Substituted service upon the Defendants was made pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-01-11, ND CC. That statute provides as follows:

“Nonresident motor vehicle user— Service upon. — The use and operation by a resident of this state or his agent, or by a nonresident or his agent, of a motor vehicle upon or over the highways of this state shall be deemed an appointment by such resident when he has been absent from this state continuously for six months or more following an accident or by such nonresident at any time, of the highway commissioner of this state to be his true and lawful attorney upon whom may be served all legal process in any action or proceeding against him growing out of the use or operation of the motor vehicle resulting in damages or loss to person or property, whether the damage or loss occurs upon a public highway or upon public or private property, and such use or operation shall constitute an agreement that any such process in any action against him which is so served shall have the same legal force and effect as if served upon him personally, or, in case of his death, that such process shall have the same legal force and effect as if served upon the administrator of his estate. Service of the summons in such case may be made by delivering a copy thereof to the highway commissioner together with a fee of two dollars.”

No claim is made of any irregularity or insufficiency in the mechanics of the service under the statute involved. It is Defendant’s assertion that said Section 39-01-11 is inapplicable to the facts of this case, as alleged by Plaintiff in his complaint, and that therefore any process attempted under such Section is invalid and void.

Most> if not all the states have president motorist statutes somewhat similar to that of North Dakota. All have the same primary purpose — that is, to grant local residents access to local courts for the bringing of suits against nonresident tortfeasors covered by such statutes. As stated by Chief Justice Grimson of the Supreme Court of North Dakota in Austinson v. Kilpatrick et al., 82 N.W.2d 388, 392 (1957), the purpose the subject statute is “ * * * to «five the resident of the state the same protection against nonresident drivers of automobiles on the highways as against resident drivers.” Such statutes are re-medial in nature, providing the procedure f°r acquiring jurisdiction of the parties, Austinson, supra, at page 392.

Statutes similar to that under consideration here have been held to be constitutional, providing they contain provisions which, if complied with, will result in a reasonable probability that the defendant will be afforded actual notice 0f ^e suit. See: Hess v. Pawloski, 274 U. S. 352, 47 S.Ct. 632, 71 L.Ed. 1091; Wuchter v. Pizzutti, 276 U.S. 13, 48 S.Ct. 259, 72 L.Ed. 446, and Berg v. Burke et al., 77 N D 913, 46 N.W.2d 786. How-eVer, the statute, being one in derogation 0f common law, must be strictly con-strued_ Simmons v. Broomfield, D.C. W.D.Ark., 163 F.Supp 268 273.

The precise question here to be determined does not appear to have been considered by the North Dakota Supreme Court. A duty is thus imposed upon this Court to predict or forecast what that North Dakota court would hold under circumstances similar to those present in this case. Homolla v. Gluck, 8 Cir., 248 F.2d 731, 734, and Nugent v. General Insurance Co. of America, 8 Cir., 253 F.2d 800.

Having in mind the quoted statute, the purpose thereof as expressed by the Supreme Court of North Dakota in Austin-[881]*881son, supra, and the aforementioned principles of law, we turn to the facts pertinent to this discussion, as disclosed by Plaintiff’s complaint.

On the date of the accident Plaintiff was employed by the Defendants to assist in the unloading of certain equipment from a vehicle owned by the corporate Defendant and operated by the individual Defendant, an agent of Fernstrom Storage & Van Company. The vehicle, a truck transporting goods in interstate commerce, had traveled into North Dakota over public highways and, at the time of the accident, was parked along the curbline of a city street in Fargo, for the purpose of unloading its cargo. A ramp was placed from the side of the bed of the truck down to the sidewalk, and a large and heavy piece of IBM equipment was in the process of being guided down said ramp by the Plaintiff and others when it gained momentum and pinned Plaintiff’s wrist between it and a brick wall, thereby allegedly seriously injuring Plaintiff.

Upon these facts the Plaintiff asserts that the truck was being “used,” as that word is employed in Section 39-01-11, NDCC, and that therefore the Defendants are amenable to process as was here made.

It is alleged by Plaintiff, and it appears conceded by the Defendants, that sometime prior to the accident the truck involved was “used and operated” upon the highways of this state. Therefore, according to the statute, the highway commissioner was deemed appointed as the person upon whom process could be served for the purposes therein stated. The statute continues by providing that such process may be made upon the highway commissioner “ * * * in any action or proceeding against (the nonresident) growing out of the use or operation of the motor vehicle * * *” (Emphasis added.)

Did, then, Plaintiff’s injuries and damages “grow out of” the “use” of the Defendant’s truck in this case? In the Court’s opinion, they did not.

Plaintiff cites the New York cases of Aranzullo v. Collins Packing Company, 18 A.D.2d 1068, 239 N.Y.S.2d 398, and Landolphi v. Wilhelmsen, 39 Misc.2d 950, 241 N.Y.S.2d 942, in support of his contention that an unloading activity is encompassed within the word “use” as contained in Section 39-01-11. These cases, however, are distinguishable — and therefore not persuasive — in that a negligently defective condition of the vehicle itself, or a component part thereof, was alleged to be — and found to be — the cause of the respective plaintiff’s injuries and damage. This distinguishing feature is found also in the cases of McDonald et al. v. Superior Court et al., 43 Cal.Rptr. 621, 275 P.2d 464, and Klein v. Wells et al., 194 Kan.

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Bluebook (online)
253 F. Supp. 879, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langness-v-fernstrom-storage-van-co-ndd-1966.