Morehouse v. Haynes

234 P.3d 1024, 235 Or. App. 482, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 607
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 9, 2010
Docket060909915; A136871
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 234 P.3d 1024 (Morehouse v. Haynes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morehouse v. Haynes, 234 P.3d 1024, 235 Or. App. 482, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 607 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

[484]*484WOLLHEIM, J.

Plaintiff initiated this action seeking economic and noneconomic damages resulting from a car accident. Defendant moved for summary judgment on plaintiffs claim for noneconomic damages, arguing that plaintiff was barred from recovering noneconomic damages because plaintiff was uninsured at the time of the accident. In response, plaintiff alleged that defendant’s reckless driving caused the accident; therefore, plaintiff was not barred from recovering noneconomic damages. The trial court concluded that no reasonable jury could find that defendant drove recklessly, granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and subsequently entered a judgment dismissing the case. Plaintiff appeals and assigns error to the trial court’s grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm.

We state the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff. Jones v. General Motors Co., 325 Or 404, 408, 939 P2d 608 (1997). Plaintiff and defendant had a car accident on a sharp curve on Highway 219, a two-lane road between Newberg and Hillsboro. Defendant was familiar with the highway because he had driven it more than 20 times in the month before the accident. At the time of the accident, the pavement was dry and there was full sunlight.

Two types of cautionary signs were posted near the sharp curve where the accident occurred. The first sign was posted before the curve and advised drivers to drive no more than 25 miles per hour through the curve; three other signs were posted at the curve to indicate its sharpness. As defendant drove into the curve between 45 and 50 miles per hour, he took his eyes off of the road to adjust his radio. When defendant looked up, he had partially crossed the center line; then he applied his brakes, slid across the center line, and collided with plaintiffs car. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was driving without insurance, in violation of ORS 806.010a).1

[485]*485Plaintiff brought this action alleging noneconomic damages2 that defendant caused in the car accident. A person who drives uninsured at the time of a car accident is barred from recovering noneconomic damages arising from a car accident unless an express exception applies. ORS 31.715(1). Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff drove uninsured and was, therefore, statutorily barred from recovering noneconomic damages. Plaintiff responded that the express exception for reckless driving, ORS 31.715(5)(c), applied and allowed plaintiff to recover his noneconomic damages. The trial court concluded that no rational juror could find that defendant drove recklessly.3 Accordingly, the trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment and entered a general judgment dismissing the case. Plaintiff appeals and renews the argument that he made to the trial court.

Summary judgment shall be granted if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law. ORCP 47 C. Defendant, as the moving party, bears the burden of showing that there is “no genuine issue of material fact.” Robinson v. Lamb’s Wilsonville Thriftway, 332 Or 453, 460, 31 P3d 421 (2001). There is “no genuine issue as to any material fact” if, “based upon the record before the court viewed in a manner most favorable to the adverse party, no objectively reasonable juror could return a verdict for the adverse party on the matter that is the subject of the motion for summary judgment.” ORCP 47 C.

Plaintiff admitted that he was driving uninsured at the time of the accident. Under ORS 31.715, plaintiff

[486]*486“may not recover noneconomic damages * * * in any action for injury or death arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle if the plaintiff was in violation of ORS 806.010 [prohibiting driving uninsured] or 813.010 [driving under the influence of intoxicants] at the time the act or omission causing the death or injury occurred. * * *
H? % H* *
“(5) The limitation on liability established by this section does not apply if:
«H« Hi * * Hi
“(c) The defendant was engaged in conduct that would constitute a violation of ORS 811.140 at the time the act or omission causing the death or injury occurred.”

Plaintiff argues that the exception in ORS 31.715(5)(c) applies because defendant violated ORS 811.140,4 which prohibits reckless driving and adopts the definition of “recklessly” provided by ORS 161.085. “Recklessly” means

“that a person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur or that the circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.”

ORS 161.085(9).

The parties do not cite any cases construing reckless driving in the context of ORS 31.715, and we are aware of none. However, there is a body of case law that informs our analysis. That case law developed under ORS 30.115 (1977), amended by Or Laws 1979, ch 866, § 7 (guest passenger statute), which generally prohibited a nonpaying guest passenger from recovering damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident unless the driver’s intentional conduct, gross [487]*487negligence, or intoxication caused the accident.5 In cases involving the gross negligence standard under ORS 30.115 (1977), gross negligence and recklessness were synonymous. Williamson v. McKenna, 223 Or 366, 387-89, 354 P2d 56 (1960). The legislature subsequently defined gross negligence, ORS 30.115(2), and recklessness, ORS 161.085, giving those terms distinct meanings.

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Related

Morehouse v. Haynes
253 P.3d 1068 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2011)
Morehouse v. Haynes
234 P.3d 1024 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
234 P.3d 1024, 235 Or. App. 482, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morehouse-v-haynes-orctapp-2010.