Kitchens v. Duffield

Citation79 N.E.2d 906,149 Ohio St. 500
Decision Date19 May 1948
Docket NumberNos. 31238,31239.,s. 31238
PartiesKITCHENS v. DUFFIELD (two cases).
CourtOhio Supreme Court

149 Ohio St. 500
79 N.E.2d 906

KITCHENS
v.
DUFFIELD (two cases).

Nos. 31238, 31239.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

May 19, 1948.


[79 N.E.2d 906]

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Section 6308-6, General Code, commonly called the ‘guest statute,’ relieves the owner or operator of a motor vehicle from all liability for the injury or death of a gratuitous guest being transported in such motor vehicle, resulting from the operation thereof, unless the injury or death is caused by wilful or wanton misconduct in the operation of the vehicle.

2. Section 6308-6, General Code, applies to the operation of motor vehicles over both public and private ways or avenues of travel.


Appeals from Court of Appeals, Franklin County.

Action by Mary Eleanor Kitchens against Geraldine K. Duffield to recovery for injuries sustained while riding as a guest in defendant's automobile, and action by William F. Kitchens against Geraldine Duffield to recover for expenses incurred and to be incurred on account of the injuries. From adverse judgments, the plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgments, 76 N.E.2d 101, and the cases are in the Supreme Court pursuant to the allowance of motions to require the Court of Appeals to certify its records.-[Editorial Statement.]

Judgments of Court of Appeals affirmed.

On April 8, 1943, Mary Eleanor Kitchens was a guest-passenger in a private automobile being driven over a thoroughfare within the limits of the Lockbourne Army Air Base (near the city of Columbus, Ohio), which air base was wholly owned by the United States. A collision occurred between the vehicle in which Mrs. Kitchens was riding and a United States Army motor truck, and Mrs. Kitchens was injured.

Two actions for damages predicated upon carelessness and negligence were filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin county against Geraldine K. Duffield, the driver of the automobile in which Mrs. Kitchens was a guest-passenger-one by Mrs. Kitchens to recover for the injuries she sustained and the other by her husband, William F. Kitchens, to recover for expenses already incurred and those to be incurred on account of the injuries to his wife.

Demurrers were filed to the second amended petitions of the Kitchens, on the ground that such petitions did not state causes of action for the reason that they failed to allege wilful or wanton misconduct on the part of the defendant within the terms of Section 6308-6, General Code.

Both demurrers were sustained by the trial...

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