Phoenix Respirator & Ambulance Service, Inc. v. McWilliams

468 P.2d 951, 12 Ariz. App. 186, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 604
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 6, 1970
Docket1 CA-CIV 1109
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 468 P.2d 951 (Phoenix Respirator & Ambulance Service, Inc. v. McWilliams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phoenix Respirator & Ambulance Service, Inc. v. McWilliams, 468 P.2d 951, 12 Ariz. App. 186, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 604 (Ark. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

HAIRE, Judge.

Patricia McWilliams was killed in a collision between the ambulance in which she-was riding as a passenger and a vehicle-driven by one Stephanie McGuire. The-decedent’s administrator, on behalf of the-surviving husband and son, sued the owner-of the ambulance, Phoenix Respirator & Ambulance Service, Inc. (hereinafter Phoenix Respirator), and Stephanie McGuire, the driver of the other vehicle, for wrongful death. Jury trial resulted in the entry of judgment in plaintiff’s favor-against the defendant Phoenix Respirator,, and Phoenix Respirator has appealed from» *187 that judgment. No appeal or cross-appeal has been taken by plaintiff from the judgment entered in favor of defendant McGuire, and all subsequent references herein to defendant refer solely to defendant Phoenix Respirator.

The facts which are material to the disposition of this case are as follows: At the time the accident occurred, the decedent was being transported to a hospital in defendant’s ambulance. The ambulance — its siren blaring and lights flashing — was heading west on Buckeye Road towards the County Hospital as it approached an intersection with an access road to the Black Canyon Highway. The intersection of Buckeye and the access road is controlled by electrically lighted traffic signals. The car driven by Stephanie McGuire approached the aforementioned intersection from the south. Both vehicles ■entered the intersection and collided.

There was conflicting evidence as to the color of the electrically lighted traffic signal for each direction of traffic at the time of the collision, but this conflict is not material to the resolution of this appeal. 'There was also a dispute as to whether or not defendant’s ambulance slowed down before it entered the intersection. The bulk of the testimony was that the ambulance ■did, in fact, decelerate, but there was no testimony or contention that defendant’s ■ambulance came to a full stop before entering the accident intersection. Based upon an ordinance of the City of Phoenix the trial court instructed the jury to the effect that the failure of an emergency vehicle to come to a full stop at all traffic control devices requiring a stop under normal circumstances constituted negligence as a matter of law. 1 It is defendant’s contention that the ordinance is invalid and that therefore the giving of this instruction constituted error.

The defendant contends that instead of giving an instruction based upon the city ordinance, the trial court should have instructed the jury in the language of a state statute, A.R.S. § 28-624, subsec. B, par. 2. This statute provides that the driver of an emergency vehicle may “[pjroceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation.” (Emphasis added).

The Phoenix ordinance is in conflict with the state statute in that it purports to require an emergency vehicle to come to a full stop while the state statute requires only such “slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation.”

The primary thrust of defendant’s contention relative to the foregoing is that the state, by enacting A.R.S. § 28-624 preempted regulation of the manner in which emergency vehicles are to approach, enter and pass through intersections equipped with a “red or stop signal or stop sign”, and that therefore the City of Phoenix ordinance was invalid and it was improper for the court to base a jury instruction upon it. We agree that the ordinance is invalid, and that it was improper for the court to base a jury instruction'upon it.

*188 Our Supreme Court has said that both a city and state may legislate on the same subject when that subject is of local concern or when, though the subject is not of local concern, the charter or particular state legislation confers on the city express power to legislate thereon; but where the subject is of statewide concern, and the legislature has appropriated the field by enacting a statute pertaining thereto, that statute governs throughout the state, and local ordinances contrary thereto are invalid. Clayton v. State, 38 Ariz. 135, 297 P. 1037, rehearing denied, 38 Ariz. 466, 300 P. 1010 (1931); Keller v. State, 46 Ariz. 106, 47 P.2d 442 (1935); City of Phoenix v. Breuninger, 50 Ariz. 372, 72 P.2d 580 (1937).

We believe that the subject matter of A.R.S. § 28-624, regulation of emergency vehicles, is of no less statewide concern than the matters covered in other sections of this same chapter dealing with the operation of motor vehicles which were considered in Clayton, supra (driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs), or Keller, supra (reckless driving). The operation of motor vehicles being of statewide concern, the local ordinance is invalid because it clearly conflicts with the provisions of the state statute, A.R.S. § 28-624.

Any question which might exist as to whether the legislature intended to exclude conflicting local ordinances on this subject is answered by another statute found in the same chapter as A.R.S. § 28-624. This statute, A.R.S. § 28-626, reads as follows:

“The provisions of this chapter shall be applicable and uniform throughout this state and in all political subdivisions and municipalities therein and no local authority shall enact or enforce any ordinance, rule or regulation in conflict with the provisions of this chapter unless expressly authorized by this chapter. Local authorities may, however, adopt additional traffic regulations which are not in conflict with the provisions of this-chapter.”

Exceptions to the foregoing statute are provided for in A.R.S. § 28-627. However none of these exceptions purports to allow the enactment of conflicting local ordinances regulating emergency vehicles.

Plaintiff argues that the rule of City of Phoenix v. Breuninger, supra, as interpreted in dicta in City of Tucson v. Arizona Alpha of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 67 Ariz. 330, 195 P.2d 562 (1948), allows cities to-enact ordinances covering the same subject matter as a state statute so long as the city’s ordinance is more stringent. While-it is clear that the Phoenix ordinance is more demanding than the state statute,. City of Phoenix v. Breuninger, supra, must of course be read in the light of the factual situation upon which it was based.

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468 P.2d 951, 12 Ariz. App. 186, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phoenix-respirator-ambulance-service-inc-v-mcwilliams-arizctapp-1970.