Logan v. Pacific Intermountain Exp. Co.

• Decision Date: 18 March 1965
• Docket Number: Nos. 3315-3347,s. 3315-3347
• Citation: 400 P.2d 488
• Parties: Roy G. LOGAN et al., Appellants (Plaintiffs below), v. PACIFIC INTERMOUNTAIN EXPRESS COMPANY, a Nevada corporation, Appellee (Defendant below), Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc., a Wyoming corporation, and Nellie Horton, Administratrix of the Estate of Joe E. Weimer, Deceased, (Defendants below).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 488

400 P.2d 488

Roy G. LOGAN et al., Appellants (Plaintiffs below), v. PACIFIC INTERMOUNTAIN EXPRESS COMPANY, a Nevada corporation, Appellee (Defendant below) Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc., a Wyoming corporation, and Nellie Horton, Administratrix of the Estate of Joe E. Weimer, Deceased, (Defendants below).

Nos. 3315-3347.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

March 18, 1965.

Nelson & Jackson, Venta, Bath & Murray, Kenneth G. Hamm and Robert H. Johnson of Galicich & Hamm, John M. Anselmi, Rock Springs, Hirst & Applegate, Cheyenne, for appellants.

Murane, Bostwick, McDaniel & Scott, Casper, for appellee.

Before PARKER, C. J., and HARNSBERGER, GRAY, and McINTYRE, JJ.

GRAY, Justice.

These appeals are companion to the case of Zanetti Bus Lines, Inc., v. Logan, Wyo., 400 P.2d 482, this day decided. Both groups of cases grow out of the same motor vehicle accident. By way of background, reference is made to the Zanetti opinion containing a general statement of the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident, and also setting forth in a general way the proceedings below. The statement is sufficient to furnish general information with respect to these appeals and will not be repeated except to say that in this case the plaintiffs in the thirty-three described actions appeal from the judgments entered upon the verdicts of the jury exonerating defendant Pacific Intermountain Express Company (hereinafter called P.I.E.) from liability.

Plaintiffs in their complaints charge generally that P.I.E. operated its truck negligently and in violation of the laws of this state and the rules and regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission in that it was driven at an excessive rate of speed, without due regard for the condition of the highway; that there was improper lookout; and that there was lack of proper control. P.I.E. denied the charges and asserted certain affirmative defenses with which we need not be concerned.

While plaintiffs complain that the verdicts and judgments are contrary to law and the evidence, it is not argued that the verdicts and the judgments are not sustained by substantial evidence. Rather, the point made is that even though we might determine that each of the asserted thirty-two procedural errors, standing alone, was insufficient to warrant reversal, the cumulative effect was such as to prejudice plaintiffs in their rights to a fair trial. Before undertaking to dispose of this contention it appears appropriate separately to discuss certain of the errors claimed.

The principal one advanced by plaintiffs, and to which the major portion of their brief is devoted, is the refusal of the trial court to admit into evidence their Exhibit No 44 which sets forth verbatim §§ 192.1, 192.3, and 192.14 of the 'Revised Safety Regulations' of the Interstate Commerce Commission pertaining to the operation of motor vehicles in interstate commerce. The exhibit was offered near the close of plaintiffs' case.

In substance § 192.1 provides for instruction of drivers, and others, with respect to compliance with the rules. Section 192.3 provides that all motor vehicles shall be operated in keeping with local laws unless such laws are at variance with commission regulations 'which impose a greater affirmative obligation or restraint.' Section 192.14 is primarily the section upon which plaintiffs' contentions are based, and the pertinent part of such section provides as follows:

'Extreme caution in the operation of a motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain dust, or smoke, adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the vehicle can be safely operated. * * *'

The trial court rejected the exhibit on the ground that the requirements therein set forth were not applicable to the issues in the case and on the further ground that the exhibit lacked evidentiary support. We agree with the trial court that a large portion of the exhibit was wholly immaterial. No evidence was introduced or offered by plaintiffs tending to show that the driver of P.I.E.'s truck was not conversant with the prescribed safety requirements. Whether or not there was a variance between those regulations and applicable local law was a question of law for the court, not a factual question for the jury. With respect to § 192.14 plaintiffs' own evidence, elicited from several witnesses, was to the effect that all of the elements mentioned in the regulation did not adversely affect visibility at the time of the accident. We think plaintiffs recognize this in that their entire argument is premised on the claimed lack of traction because of the icy condition of the highway. Consequently, even though the provisions with respect to traction conceivably might have had some applicability, the preponderance of the matters contained in the exhibit was not relevant and for that reason we cannot say that the court erred in excluding it as a whole. Furthermore, sufficient is shown by the record to disclose that the trial court reached a proper result, notwithstanding that the reasons given for excluding the exhibit might have been erroneous to some extent. Under those circumstances plaintiffs could not have been prejudiced by the ruling. Lawson v. Schuchardt, Wyo., 363 P.2d 90, 93.

In this connection we first point out the agreement of the parties that the foregoing safety regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, when applicable, have the force and effect of law. Many authorities sustain their position. For just a few see: Atchison, T. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Scarlett, 300 U.S. 471, 57 S.Ct. 541, 543, 81 L.Ed. 748, rehearing denied 301 U.S. 712, 57 S.Ct. 787, 81 L.Ed. 1365; Tri-State Casualty Ins. Co. v. Loper, 10 Cir., 204 F.2d 557, 559; Bussell v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., 237 Ark. 812, 376 S.W.2d 545, 549; Bailey v. Bruneau's Truck Service, Inc., 149 Conn. 46, 175 A.2d 372, 376; Woods v. New York, C. & St. L. R. Co., 339 Ill.App. 132, 88 N.E.2d 740, 743, certiorari denied 340 U.S. 830, 71 S.Ct. 48, 95 L.Ed. 610; Hiatt v. Wabash Ry. Co., 334 Mo. 895, 69 S.W.2d 627, 631, certiorari denied Wabash Ry. Co. v. Hiatt, 293 U.S. 560, 55 S.Ct. 72, 79 L.Ed. 661.

Seemingly the parties also agree that state courts, as a general rule, take judicial notice of such regulations. Both the brief of plaintiffs and that of P.I.E. cite authorities to that effect. However, informative as those authorities appear to be, we find it unnecessary to discuss them. So far as we are concerned the matter is rather academic. If as the parties agree the rules so prescribed constitute federal law regulating the operation of a motor vehicle in interstate commerce upon the highways of this state, then such regulations when applicable are as much a body of the law of this jurisdiction as would be true of similar regulations prescribed by enactments of our own legislature. Thus the trial court had no alternative but to notice the Interstate Commerce Commission regulations as a part of the law of the forum.

Now we are not unaware that in certain instances the trial courts may have difficulty in becoming informed as to the federal law upon a particular subject matter. Rules and regulations of federal agencies having the force and effect of law are not always available. Nevertheless, that fact affords little excuse to depart from the rudiments of a fair and proper procedure for getting such matters before the court in a jury trial. We see no reason why it should not be done in the same manner as set forth in §§ 1-181 and 1-182, W.S.1957, of the Uniform Judicial Notice of Foreign Law Act, Tit. 1, Ch. 12, Art. 8, W.S.1957. Those sections provide as follows:

'The court may inform itself of such laws in such manner as it deem proper, and the court may call upon counsel to aid it in obtaining such information.'

'The determination of such laws shall be made by the court and not by the jury, and shall be reviewable.'

That method is particularly appropriate where as here there was no dispute that the regulations in question were in existence and that P.I.E. was subject to the regulations. And in this connection plaintiffs can scarcely be heard to complain that the court was not fully informed or failed to give consideration to the matter. The regulations were set forth verbatim in their complaint. Copies of the three sections in question were produced at the pretrial conference and all parties agreed that they were true and correct copies. They were also set forth verbatim in a stipulation of the parties at the trial.

For the trial court to have admitted the exhibit under the foregoing circumstances would have been an absurdity. It would have taken from the trial court its prerogative and duty to instruct the jury upon the law of the case. Not only that, it would have endowed the jury with a roving commission to determine the law on its own. Spriggs v. Cheyenne Newspapers, 63 Wyo. 416, 182 P.2d 801; State, for Use of Emerson v. Poe, 171 Md. 584, 190 A. 231, 239; Texas State Board of...