Goldman v. Beaudry
| Decision Date | 20 April 1961 |
| Docket Number | No. 971,971 |
| Citation | 170 A.2d 636,122 Vt. 299 |
| Parties | Vera GOLDMAN v. Paul E. BEAUDRY. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Arthur L. Graves, St. Johnsbury, for plaintiff.
Raymond L. Miles, Newport, for defendant.
Before HULBURD, C. J., and HOLDEN, SHANGRAW, BARNEY and SMITH, JJ.
This action results from an automobile accident that occurred at Massawippi in the Province of Quebec on February 22, 1959. The complaint states that the plaintiff 'pleads and seeks to recover pursuant to the applicable laws of the Province of Quebec, where said injuries occurred, including among other provisions, the following sections of the Civil Code of said Province:
' § 1053: Every person capable of discerning right from wrong is responsible for the damage caused by his fault to another, whether by positive act, imprudence, neglect or want of skill.' * * *
The defendant answered by denying the application of the laws of Quebec as alleged in the complaint and affirmatively alleged that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence which was a proximate cause of the accident. The answer specifically charges the plaintiff failed to keep to the right of center of the highway, neglected to maintain proper lookout and control, and operated her vehicle at excessive speed.
On this state of the pleadings the cause went to trial by jury in the Orleans County Court at the March Term 1960. The defendant obtained a verdict and judgment. The plaintiff brings this appeal and confines her assignment of error to the refusal of the trial court to apply the law of the Province of Quebec to the issue of contributory negligence in dealing with the evidence and in instructing the jury.
By stipulation of the parties only a part of the record made at the trial has been certified on appeal. From the record available, it appears that the provisions of the Civil Code alleged in the complaint were admitted in evidence without objection from the defendant. By inquiry directed to a qualified attorney, admitted to practice in the Province of Quebec, the plaintiff sought to establish the law of that province relating to contributory negligence in the application of Article 1053 of the Civil Code.
The witness responded by stating from Canadian text references that if the plaintiff is entirely to blame for his own misfortune his action should be dismissed. However, contributory negligence on his part does not necessarily mean his action will fail altogether, for where it is found that both the plaintiff and defendant are guilty of neglect contributing to the accident there will be a division of damages according to their common fault. On motion of the defendant the answer given was struck by the trial court and the jury instructed to disregard it. The plaintiff objected to this ruling by the court and pointed out that comparative negligence is commonly referred to in the Province of Quebec as contributory negligence.
Later, in submitting the case, the court instructed the jury that the law of Quebec governed the recovery and undertook to relate the duties of the respective operators when meeting on the highway pursuant to the law of that jurisdiction. The presiding judge went on to explain the doctrine of comparative fault as applied in Quebec but directed the jury that the foreign law of contributory negligence had no application to this case. The jury was then instructed on this issue according to the law of Vermont. The charge as delivered was contrary to the plaintiff's request and she took exception to the court's treatment of the issue of contributory negligence, both in the rejection of the law of Quebec and in the application of the law of the forum.
The plaintiff's claim of error is well founded. The rights and liabilities of the parties to an action arising from a motor vehicle accident are determined by the laws of the state where the accident happened. Brown, Adm'r v. Perry, 104 Vt. 66, 71, 156 A. 910, 77 A.L.R. 1294. Restatement, Conflict of Laws, § 384; 60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 259, p. 634; 5A Am.Jur. Automobiles and Highway Traffic, § 195, p. 349. Whether contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff precludes recovery in whole or in part is to be settled by the law where the claimed injury was inflicted. If the law of the foreign country applies the doctrine of comparative negligence in...
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...Owen v. Owen, 444 N.W.2d 710 (S.D.1989); Velasquez v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 12 Utah 2d 379, 366 P.2d 989 (1961); Goldman v. Beaudry, 122 Vt. 299, 170 A.2d 636 (1961); McMillan v. McMillan, 219 Va. 1127, 253 S.E.2d 662 (1979); Paul v. Nat'l Life, 177 W.Va. 427, 352 S.E.2d 550 (1986); Ball v......
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...S.E.2d 288 (1963); Algie v. Algie, 261 S.C. 103, 198 S.E.2d 529 (1973); Winters v. Maxey, 481 S.W.2d 755 (Tenn.1972); Goldman v. Beaudry, 122 Vt. 299, 170 A.2d 636 (1961); Frye v. Comm.W., 231 Va. 370, 345 S.E.2d 267 (1986); Vest v. St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital, Inc., 182 W.Va. 228, 387 ......
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IN RE AIR CRASH DISASTER AT BOSTON, MASS., JULY 31, 1973, 160.
...reveals that the most recent case in which the Vermont Supreme Court applied the lex loci rule in a tort action is Goldman v. Beaudry, 122 Vt. 299, 170 A.2d 636 (1961). That case was decided before the Restatement Second adopted in § 145 the "significant contacts" approach in tort cases and......
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Wash. Elec. Co-op. v. Mass. Mun. Wholesale Elec.
...employs the lex loci delicti rule. Accordingly, we must apply the law of the jurisdiction where the tort occurred. Goldman v. Beaudry, 122 Vt. 299, 301, 170 A.2d 636 (1961). Under this rule, the situs of the tort is "the state where the last event necessary to make an actor liable for an al......