Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge

Citation336 So.2d 1338
PartiesLinner VINES, etc., et al., v. PLANTATION MOTOR LODGE et al. SC 1807.
Decision Date03 September 1976
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama

Grover S. McLeod, Birmingham, for appellants.

No appearance for appellees.

EMBRY, Justice.

When keys are left in an unlocked vehicle in violation of a city ordinance, the vehicle stolen, and is involved in an accident, should summary judgments be entered for defendant owner in negligence actions brought by injured plaintiffs?

Summary judgments were properly granted, therefore we affirm.

A truck owned by Tommy Wesson (appellee, d/b/a Plantation Motor Lodge) was parked in an alley behind his motor lodge and left unlocked with the keys in the ignition; the truck was stolen and a short time later, operated by the thief, collided with the motorcycle that Bobby Dean Vines and her husband, Gary Vines, were riding. Bobby Dean was injured and Gary killed. Actions were filed, on account of the injuries and death, alleging that Wesson was negligent in violating a Birmingham city ordinance:

'No person having charge or control of a vehicle shall allow such vehicle to stand on any street or alley unattended without first effectively setting the brakes thereon, stopping the motor of such vehicle, locking, the ignition, removing the ignition key and taking such key with him; and when standing upon any grade without turning the front wheels of such vehicle to the curb or side of the street.' Birmingham General Code, § 34--92 (1964).

Wesson's motions for summary judgments were granted, judgments entered accordingly, Bobby Dean Vines and the administratrix of Gary's estate take this appeal.

The issue is whether negligence per se, by the ordinance's violation, is the proximate cause of injuries and death resulting from the thief's operation of the stolen vehicle. Appellants say it is; Wesson and the trial judge say it is not.

The facts in this case show that appellee, Wesson, parked his truck behind his motelbar in a dark alley with the keys in it and the truck not locked. Shortly thereafter, a nineteen-year-old stole the truck and while driving it, apparently under the influence of drugs, he caused it to collide with the Vines' motorcycle. The location from which the truck was stolen is an area containing many stores and bars; auto theft is a high incident crime of which an alarming number occur when keys are left in the vehicle; a substantial proportion of stolen vehicles are involved in accidents, frequently after high-speed chases through cities, and often result in damage to property and person of innocent victims.

Whether a vehicle owner who fails to remove keys from the ignition switch of his parked vehicle can be held liable for personal injury or property damage, resulting from the negligent operation of the vehicle by a thief, is a question which the courts answer in different ways. In Alabama, the issue of the owner's liability is complicated by the existence of a statute and, in this case an ordinance, which expressly proscribes the failure to remove the ignition key from a parked vehicle. Tit. 36, § 27, Code of Ala. The majority of jurisdictions do not hold the owner liable. The question is one of first impression in Alabama, as far as we can determine. We view the matter, as to a majority of jurisdictions, to be decided under traditional concepts of proximate cause.

Negligence alone does not afford a cause of action. Liability will be imposed only when negligence is the proximate cause of injury; injury must be a natural and probable consequence of the negligent act or omission which an ordinarily prudent person ought reasonably to foresee would result in injury. If, between the alleged negligent act or omission and the injury, there occurs an independent, intervening, unforeseeable event, the causal connection between the alleged negligence and the injury is broken. Mobile City Lines, Inc. v. Proctor, 272 Ala. 217, 130 So.2d 388 (1961); Mahone v. Birmingham Electric Co., 261 Ala. 132, 73 So.2d 378 (1954).

The key here is foreseeability. This court has held many times that a person, who by some act or omission sets in motion a series of events, is not responsible for consequences of intervention of another agency, unless at the time of his...

To continue reading

Request your trial
77 cases
  • Bowden ex rel. Bowden v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Civil Action No. 99-D-880-E.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Middle District of Alabama
    • November 29, 2000
    ...act or omission which an ordinarily prudent person ought reasonably to foresee would result in injury." Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge, 336 So.2d 1338, 1339 (Ala.1976). The question of proximate cause is typically one for the jury to decide. See Davison v. Mobile Infirmary, 456 So.2d 14, 2......
  • McClenahan v. Cooley
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Tennessee
    • March 11, 1991
    ...Ignition", 24 Tenn.L.Rev. 395 (1956).4 See Bennett v. Arctic Insulation, Inc., 253 F.2d 652, 654 (9th Cir.1958); Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge, 336 So.2d 1338, 1340 (Ala.1976); Richards v. Stanley, 43 Cal.2d 60, 65, 271 P.2d 23, 26-27 (1954); Lambotte v. Payton, 147 Colo. 207, 209, 363 P.......
  • Bobo v. Tenn. Valley Auth., Civil Action No. CV 12-S-1930-NE
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of Alabama
    • September 29, 2015
    ...without which the injury would not have occurred.") (quoting Martin v. Arnold , 643 So.2d 564, 567 (Ala.1994)); Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge , 336 So.2d 1338, 1339 (Ala.1976)("Liability will be imposed only when negligence is the proximate cause of injury; injury must be a natural and pr......
  • General Motors Corp. v. Edwards
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • November 15, 1985
    ......836, 87 S.Ct. 83, 17 L.Ed.2d 70 (1966), overruled, Huff v. White Motor Corp., 609 F.2d 286 (7th Cir.1979), held that, where there was no ... Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge, 336 So.2d 1338 (Ala.1976). This Court has ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT