Gillaspie v. Department of Public Safety

• Decision Date: 17 June 1953
• Docket Number: No. A-4027,A-4027
• Citation: 152 Tex. 459,259 S.W.2d 177
• Parties: GILLASPIE v. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 177

259 S.W.2d 177

152 Tex. 459

GILLASPIE v. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

No. A-4027.

Supreme Court of Texas.

June 17, 1953.

Rehearing Denied July 15, 1953.

Harrison & Smallwood, San Antonio, for petitioners.

John Ben Shepperd, Atty. Gen. and Rudy G. Rice, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin F. Anderson, Criminal Dist. Atty. and James C. Onion, Assistant Crim. Dist. Atty., San Antonio, for respondent.

SMEDLEY, Justice.

This suit was filed by petitioner D. C. Gillaspie for himself and as next friend of his minor son, petitioner James D. Gillaspie, against the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, to vacate and annul orders of the Department which suspended petitioner D. C. Gillaspie's motor vehicle registration and petitioner James D. Gillaspie's driver's license under the provisions of the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act, being Chapter 498, Acts Regular Session 52nd Legislature, 1951, pp. 1210 and following, Article 6701h, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes.

The trial court, holding that the parts of the Act under attack are constitutional, sustained the order suspending the driver's license of petitioner James D. Gillaspie, but reformed it so as to reduce the security required to be deposited from $2181.92 to $1190; and set aside the order suspending D. C. Gillaspie's motor vehicle registration on account of its conclusion that he was not responsible for the damages incurred by his minor son, James D. Gillaspie, who at the time of the accident was driving the father's automobile with his permission but not as his agent. On appeal by James D. Gillaspie and the Department of Public Safety the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment as to James D. Gillaspie and reversed and judgment which had set aside the suspension of D. C. Gillaspie's motor vehicle registration. 254 S.W.2d 180.

Application for writ of error by D. C. Gillaspie was granted under the erroneous belief that the Department's order affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals suspended D. C. Gillaspie's driver's license as well as his motor vehicle registration. That order, apparently by reason of the use of a form applicable to an owner of an automobile who was operating it at the time of an accident, contains recitals referring to suspension of 'driver's license and all motor vehicle registrations', with directions to surrender driver's licenses and registration certificates, but the effective part of the order is that unless the required security is deposited 'all your Texas Motor Vehicle Registration Certificates and plates are hereby suspended as of April 2, 1952.' We construe the Department's order and its affirmance by the Court of Civil Appeals to suspend D. C. Gillaspie's motor vehicle registration and not his driver's license. Thus construed the order conforms to the authority given by section 5(b) of the Act to suspend 'the license of each operator and all registrations of each owner of a motor vehicle in any manner involved in such accident'.

By several points in the two applications for writ of error the constitutionality of certain parts of the Act is questioned as denying due process. Before considering separately the several points it is advisable for a better understanding of them to look briefly to the general nature and purpose of the Act, and then to the several provisions that have bearing on petitioners' points. The name of the Act, Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act, is generally descriptive of its purpose, which is more fully stated in the caption and in the emergency clause. The first part of the caption decribes the Act as 'An Act to encourage safer use of motor vehicles on the streets and highways of Texas and to deny the privilege of driving to reckless and financially irresponsible persons by requiring security of owners and operators of motor vehicles following accidents and by providing for proof of financial responsibility for the future'. The emergency clause is as follows:

'The fact that thousands of motor vehicles are being operated on the highways of Texas by financially irresponsible owners and drivers who are causing untold loss of life and property and who are failing to pay for the damages thus caused, and the further fact that it is the intent and purpose of this Act to provide a means of protecting the conscientious and thoughtful motorist, thereby benfiting all the citizens of this State, constitutes an emergency * * *.'

The Act is not one requiring liability insurance or other security as a condition to obtaining a license or permit to use the public highways, but it undertakes to accomplish its declared purposes by requiring the depositing of security after accidents under the penalty of suspension of driver's license and registration certificate. The opinion, apparently well supported by the facts, has been expressed that the enactment of the law in Texas has induced a greater number of motor vehicle owners to procure liability insurance, and that it has tended at least to encourage safer use of motor vehicles on the streets and highways. Substantially the same or similar laws have been enacted in many of the states, and they have generally been sustained as against various constitutional objections. See Note 125 A.L.R., pp. 1459, 1460; Note 10 A.L.R. (2d) pp. 833, 834, 842; and authorities hereinafter cited.

The substance of parts of the Act relevant to the points presented by petitioner is as follows:

Administration and enforcement of the Act are given to the Department of Public Safety, which is authorized to make necessary rules and regulations for its administration, and required to provide hearings upon request of persons aggrieved by its orders or acts. Section 2(a). Any order or act of the Department is subject to judicial review by appeal to the county court at law, to the county court if there be no county court at law, or to the district court if there be no county court having jurisdiction. The court shall determine whether the filing of the appeal shall operate to stay the order or decision of the Department. The court may modify, affirm or reverse the order or decision of the Department in whole or in part. Section 2(b). Trial in the court 'shall be de novo, with the burden of proof upon the Department, and the substantial evidence rule shall not be invoked or apply'. Trial by jury may be had upon proper application. Section 2(c).

The operator of every motor vehicle in any manner involved in an accident in which any person is killed or injured, or in which damage to property of any one person in excess of $100 is sustained, shall within ten days after the accident report it in writing to the Department. Forms for the report are prescribed by the Department. Section 4. If twenty days after receipt of the report the Department does not have no file evidence satisfactory to it that the person who would otherwise be required to file security under subsection (b) of section 5 has been released from liability or has been finally adjudicated not to be liable, or has executed a duly acknowledged written agreement for the payment of an agreed amount in installments with respect to all claims for injuries or damages resulting from the accident, the Department shall determine the amount of security which shall be sufficient in its judgment to satisfy any judgment or judgments for damages resulting from the accident as may be recovered against each operator or owner. Section 5(a).

The Department shall within sixty days after the receipt of the report of a motor vehicle accident suspend the license of each operator and all registrations of each owner of a motor vehicle in any way involved-in the accident, unless the operator or owner or both shall deposit security in the sum so determined by the Department. Notice of such suspension shall be sent to the operator and the owner not less than ten days prior to the effective date of the suspension, and shall state the amount required as security. Section 5(b).

The provisions of section 5 for fixing the amount of security and for suspension and notice shall not apply in these instances: To the owner or operator if he had in effect at the time of the accident a motor vehicle liability policy as defined in the Act; to any person who has qualified as a self-insurer under section 34 of the Act; to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle involved in the accident wherein no injury or damage was caused to the person or property of anyone other than such operator or owner; to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle legally parked at the time of the accident; to the owner, if the vehicle was being operated without his permission; if prior to the date that the Department would otherwise suspend the license and registration satisfactory evidence shall be filed with the Department that the person who otherwise would have to file security has been released from liability or finally adjudicated not to be liable, or has executed a duly acknowledged written agreement providing for the payment of an agreed amount in installments with respect to all claims for damages or injuries. Section 5(c), Section 6.

The license and registration suspended as provided in section 5 shall remain so suspended and shall not be renewed until security has been deposited as required under section 5 or one year shall have elapsed following the date of the accident and satisfactory evidence has been filed that during that period no action for damages has been instituted, or satisfactory evidence has been filed of a release from liability or a final adjudication of nonliability or a written agreement providing for payment in installments. Section 7. Other sections of the Act provide that the security required to be deposited shall be in such form as the Department may require, but not to be in excess of the limits specified in section 5 in reference to the acceptable limits of a policy, and that the Department may within six...