Dexter v. Green
| Decision Date | 04 December 1951 |
| Citation | 55 So.2d 548 |
| Parties | DEXTER v. GREEN. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
W. F. Anderson, and S. E. Wasson, Bronson, for appellant.
Gray, Waldo & Chandler, Gainesville, for appellee.
The plaintiff filed suit in the court below to recover damages for injuries sustained by her when the automobile in which she was riding as a guest passenger overturned. The lower court sustained defendant's demurrer to plaintiff's second amended declaration and entered final judgment for defendant after plaintiff declined to amend further. Plaintiff has appealed from such final judgment.
The only issue here is whether plaintiff's declaration sufficiently stated a cause of action for 'gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct' on the part of the driver of the automobile, within the meaning of Section 320.59, Florida Statutes, F.S.A.
The plaintiff alleged, in substance, that the car in which she was riding was proceeding at the rate of 60 or 65 miles per hour, when it approached a transport truck or van proceeding in the same direction at a rate of about 45 miles per hour; that the plaintiff cautioned the driver and requested her not to drive so fast and not to try to pass the van; but that, despite such warning and request, the driver proceeded to overtake and pass such van; that, in so doing, the driver so operated the car as to cause it to go off the paved road to the left of the van; the driver then pulled the car back on the road in front of the van and then over on to the shoulder of the road on the right, following that, the driver swerved back to the left, again in front of the van and, for the second time, went off the paved road onto the shoulder on the left; she then turned the car once more towards the right and started back across towards the other side of the road, but in so proceeding the car turned over several times and finally came to rest, heading in the opposite direction from that in which it had originally been proceeding. The plaintiff was thrown from the car as it turned over and suffered serious injuries.
The question of what constitutes 'gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of the owner or operator' of a motor vehicle has been many times before this court; and this court is committed to the rule that 'gross negligence' and 'willful and wanton misconduct' are synonymous. Cormier v. Williams, 148 Fla. 201, 4 So.2d 525. Thus, the act complained of must be of such character that the operator of the automobile would know, or should know, that, by...
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Williamson v. McKenna
...placed others in danger of injury.' Brown v. Roach, Fla.1953, 67 So.2d 201; De Wald v. Quarnstrom, Fla.1952, 60 So.2d 919; Dexter v. Green, Fla.1951, 55 So.2d 548. See, Note, 4 Fla.L.Rev. 79 Michigan, with a guest statute (Comp. Laws 1948, § 256.29) identical with that in Florida, has reach......
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...disregard of the consequences. Juhasz v. Barton, 146 Fla. 484, 1 So.2d 476; Jackson v. Edwards, 144 Fla. 187, 197 So. 833; Dexter v. Green, Fla., 55 So.2d 548. See also Cusack v. Longaker, 2 Cir., 95 F.2d 304. We agree with the conclusion reached by the trial judge that although this eviden......
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...of each case entering into the particular happening must be considered in order to determine whether liability exists. See Dexter v. Green, Fla.1951, 55 So.2d 548. In the same case we held that while each separate act involved in the drama might not in and of itself establish gross negligen......
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...of each case entering into the particular happening must be considered in order to determine whether liability exists. See Dexter v. Green, Fla.1951, 55 So.2d 548. In the same case we held that while each separate act involved in the drama might not in and of itself establish gross negligen......