Transportation Law Commons^™

Automobiles - Husband's Liability For Wife's Negligence While Driving Family Auto - "Family Errand" And "Family Purpose" Doctrines - Illinois Rule, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's automobile was damaged by collision with an automobile belonging to the defendant while being driven by defendant's wife who was on an errand to purchase a twenty-five cent Hallowe'en party dress for her daughter. The accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant's wife. The defendant, his wife, and their child were living together, and the wife's sole income was derived from her husband, and from this she was to provide clothing and meet other expenses for the child. The circuit court gave judgment of damages to the plaintiff and the defendant appeals. Held, the plaintiff could …

Carriers - Motor Carrier Act Of 1935 - Issuance Of Certificates Of Convenience And Necessity, William H. Hillier

Michigan Law Review

Applicant petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate a transcontinental bus line, claiming that it offered a distinct type of low-cost service, that by so doing it attracted a portion of the travelling public not served by other carriers, that its through-trip features were a special convenience to its passengers, and that meals en route were included in its fare charges, which were slightly lower than those of existing carriers. The protesting carriers claimed that existing bus facilities could amply handle all of applicant's traffic, that competition in the motor bus field …

Chattel Mortgages-Mechanics' Liens-Priorities

Indiana Law Journal

Recent Case Notes

The Motor Vehicle Registration Act As A Limitation On The Chattel Mortgage Recording Act, John M. Davis

Washington Law Review

Because motor vehicles are so easily moved from place to place, and because of the intricacies of successive security transactions in relation to them, it has become expedient to provide for a more adequate method of ascertaining the title to any given motor vehicle than the chattel mortgage recording act provides. In the absence of a title registration act giving the same force and effect to certificates of title for motor vehicles as that given to similar certificates under a Torrens system of land registration, in many instances a purchaser cannot be certain he is buying a clear title without …

Carriers - Gratuitous Pass - Limitation Of Liability, John L. Rubsam

Michigan Law Review

Appellee was traveling between Louisville and New Orleans on a gratuitous pass issued to her by reason of being the mother of a conductor employed by the Missouri-Pacific lines. The pass contained the following condition: "The person accepting and using it thereby assumes all risk of accident to person or property." Appellee had signed: "I accept the above conditions." The train gave a slight jerk due to coupling onto other cars, causing appellee to fall and sustain the injuries for which she sues. Held, where a passenger using a free interstate railroad pass agreed to assume the risk of …

Statutes - Interpretation - Application Of Venue Statute To Owners Of Forms Of Transportation Unknown At The Time Of Its Enactment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

An Iowa venue statute passed in 1872 provided that "an action may be brought against any railway corporation, the owner of stages, or other line of coaches or cars . . . in any county through which such road or line passes or is operated." A damage action was brought against petitioner in a county through which its truck line regularly operated. Petitioner moved for a change of venue to the county where its principal office was located. The motion was overruled and petitioner tested the validity of the ruling in an action in certiorari. Held, a common carrier …

Negligence - Causation - Failure To Sign License, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A New Hampshire statute provided that a motor vehicle operator's license should not be valid until endorsed on the margin by the operator. In a negligence action arising out of an automobile collision it was shown that defendant operator's license had not been endorsed. Plaintiff requested the court to charge that defendant's license was not valid and that defendant's violation of the statute was a legal cause of the accident, entitling plaintiff to recover unless found guilty of contributory negligence. Held, that defendant's failure to endorse his signature was not such a statutory violation that plaintiff could take advantage …

Negligence - Assumption Of Risk - Contributory Negligence, Roy L. Steinheimer

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, knowing that the driver of the automobile in which she was riding had been drinking, continued to ride with him though she was under no compulsion to do so. In an accident resulting from the driver's intoxication, plaintiff was injured and the driver killed. In an action against the personal representative of the driver, the defendant raised the defense of volenti non fit injuria. Held, for plaintiff. The maxim volenti non fit injuria would apply only where the drunkenness of the driver was extreme and glaring. Dann v. Hamilton, [1939] 1 K. B. 509.

Auto Owner's Liability For Injury Caused By Guest Permitted To Drive - Powers V. State, Use Of Reynolds

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Limiting Highway Access, Robert R. Bowie

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Boulevard Stop" Streets In Maryland - Greenfeld V. Hook

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Automobiles - Guest Passengers - Gross Negligence, John L. Rubsam

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was the owner of a vehicle which was being driven by his servant and agent, a joint defendant. Plaintiff's status was that of a non-paying guest. Plaintiff brings an action in tort, alleging "gross negligence" in the operation of an automobile on a public highway in the state of Florida. Defendants pleaded and proved a "Guest Act" of the state of Florida. The action was brought in the state of New Jersey and the sole question on appeal is the propriety of the submission to the jury of the issue of gross negligence. Held, "gross negligence" is a …

Automobiles -Violation Of Parking Statute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, in violation of a statute and ordinance prohibiting parking "within ten feet upon the approach to any flashing beacon, stop sign, or traffic control signal located at the side of a roadway," parked his truck within the prohibited area, thus blocking the sign from the view of the traffic it was intended to warn. A third party, approaching the stop street, being unable to see the sign, proceeded into the intersection without stopping, and struck the car in which plaintiff was a passenger, injuring him. Defendant demurred to the petition on the ground of lack of causal connection. Held …

Constitutional Law - Carriers - Supersedure Of State Regulations By Federal Regulations - Regulation Of Hours Of Service Of Motor Vehicular Drivers - Effect Of Federal Motor Carrier Act Of 1935, Fred C. Newman

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, whose business was chiefly interstate, violated a statute of New Hampshire which regulated the hours of service of drivers of certain motor vehicles. The violation occurred after the passage of the Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935, which, among other things, conferred authority upon the Interstate Commerce Commission "to establish reasonable requirements with respect to . . . maximum hours of service of employees" of common and contract carriers by motor vehicle in interstate commerce. At the time of the breach of the state statute, the Interstate Commerce Commission had not prescribed regulations as to hours of service. Defendant …

Negligence - Contributory Negligence - Last Clear Chance Doctrine Applied To The Plaintiff - Necessity Of Actual Knowledge Of Danger, John H. Uhl

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was injured in a collision of the automobile in which she was riding, driven by her husband, and one driven by the defendant. The defendant, as an affirmative defense, alleged that as he was about to enter the intersection, his car skidded and went out of control; and that both the plaintiff and her husband saw the dangerous situation in sufficient time to have avoided the accident. The court instructed the jury that if the plaintiff or her husband saw, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence could have seen, that the defendant was in a place of …

Negligence - Proximate Cause - When Condition Created By Prior Of Successive Negligent Acts May Be The Proximate Cause, Benjamin G. Cox

Michigan Law Review

A railroad's employee negligently allowed plaintiff's intestate to board the wrong train and then put her off at an intermediate station to await the proper train. Coming from the waiting room later, preparatory to boarding the right train, intestate fell on the waiting room steps and suffered fatal injuries. Plaintiff sued the railroad. Held, that the employee's negligence was the proximate cause of intestate's injuries and that the employer railroad is liable. Louisville & N. R.R. v. Maddox, 236 Ala. 594, 183 So. 849 (1938).

Negligence - Duty To Discover Continuous Trespasser Or Bare Licensee On Railroad's Right Of Way, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff alleged that while he was carefully crossing defendant's right of way, on a clearly defined and well worn footpath, he was struck by defendant's engine, which was backing toward the footpath in a "stealthy manner"; that defendant's servants failed to give warning as they were accustomed to do, or keep a lookout; that the footpath had been habitually used in crossing defendant's right of way for many years, that such crossing had been constant, open, and notorious as defendant knew; and that defendant had never objected to this use. Defendant demurred. Held, demurrer sustained on the ground that …

Automobiles - Host-Guest Statutes - "Gross Negligence Or Wilful And Wanton Misconduct'', Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a guest in defendant's automobile, sustained injuries when defendant attempted to pass a car while approaching the brow of a hill and failed to see an oncoming car until too late to avoid a collision. Although the highway was heavily crowded, defendant had been driving at a speed of sixty-five to seventy miles per hour, and had been passing cars on the straight and over hills, ignoring the protests of his passengers. Defendant appealed from verdict and judgment for plaintiff. Held, with two justices dissenting, that under the statute requiring proof of defendant's "gross negligence or wilful and …

Insurance -- Effect Of The Passenger-For-Hire Clauses On Scope Of Protection Under Automobile Insurance Policies, Benjamin G. Cox

Michigan Law Review

Quite common in automobile policies insuring against risks of fire, theft, collision, personal liability, etc., from the use of the automobile is a provision either effecting a termination of the policy or excluding the particular loss from the coverage of the policy if or when the automobile is used to carry passengers for hire or consideration. The full purport of this type passenger clause is unfortunately too often not realized by the insured person until he is met with a loss, unforeseen and against which he believed himself to be protected. This comment, then, will attempt an analysis of the …

Carriers - State Taxation Of Interstate Motor Carriers, Thomas K. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, an Ohio corporation, was engaged exclusively in interstate commerce as a common carrier of property for hire by motor vehicle. In 1937 the Georgia legislature passed a Maintenance Tax Act which provided, inter alia, for a tax, graduated according to manufacturer's rated capacity, on each motor common carrier for hire, and a tax, substantially smaller in the respective rated capacities, on each motor vehicle not used as a common carrier for hire. Appellant contested the validity of the tax on the grounds that it was repugnant to the commerce clause of the Constitution and that it violated the equal …

Carriers - Discrimination -Allowance In Lieu Of Spotting Service By Railroads -Validity Of Cease And Desist Order, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

Nine industrial corporations sought to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission commanding the railroad or railroads serving industrial plants of the plaintiffs to cease and desist from the payment of allowance for the spotting of cars and switching services performed by plaintiffs on plant facilities. They contended the commission exceeded its powers in making the order and that its findings were not supported by substantial evidence. Held, that there was substantial evidence to support the findings and that the order was valid and should be sustained. United States v. Pan American Petroleum Corp., 304 U.S. …

Interstate Commerce - Right Of State To Deny Use Of Highways To Carrier Having Certificate From Interstate Commerce Commission, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

A common carrier engaged in interstate commerce applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for a certificate of convenience and necessity as required by section 206 of the Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935. The carrier relied on the proviso authorizing the commission to grant a certificate without a showing of public convenience and necessity where the applicant was a carrier in bona fide operation on June 1, 1935; the statute further privileged a carrier applying for a certificate under this proviso to continue operation pending determination of its application. The State Railroad Commission of Texas earlier in 1934 had denied …

Criminal Law And Procedure - Essential Definiteness Of Criminal Statutes - Automobile Regulations, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of reckless driving under section 48 of the Illinois Uniform Traffic Act which reads, "Any person who drives any vehicle with a wilful or a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving." He appealed on the ground that the statute violated the Illinois Constitution because it was too vague, indefinite, and uncertain. Held, that the statute did not violate the constitution and was a valid exercise of the police power of the legislature. People v. Green, 368 Ill. 242, 13 N. E. (2d) 278 (1938).

Recent Developments In Actions Against Nonresident Motorists, Maurice S. Culp

Michigan Law Review

When this subject was discussed several years ago, statutes in thirty-five states authorized service of process upon some state official in actions filed against nonresident motorists. The passage of such legislation has continued. Today, out of the forty-eight states and the District of Columbia, apparently only Missouri, Nevada and Utah do not make some provision for such service.

It is proposed herein to discuss the new statutes which have been enacted since the previous article was written, to consider significant changes and developments in older legislation, and to survey the recent judicial decisions interpreting these process statutes.

Constitutional Law--Financial Responsibility Statute--Right Of State To Revoke Automobile Operator's License, J. H. H.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Carriers - Federal Regulation Of Motor Transportation Brokers, Charles E. Nadeau

Michigan Law Review

A broker is, in general, an intermediary or "go-between" in the business of negotiating contracts for others. His economic function is that of bringing buyer and seller together. A motor transportation broker is engaged in the business of arranging for contracts dealing with motor transportation service. His function is to bring together a prospective passenger or shipper seeking service and a carrier willing to provide the service demanded. "Tourist agency," "travel bureau," and "share-the-expense agency" are familiar terms used to designate the passenger transportation broker. There is a larger, but not so wellknown, group of brokers dealing in the hauling …

Automobiles - Guest Statutes - What Constitutes A Guest - Sharing Expenses On A Pleasure Trip, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued to recover for personal injuries sustained when riding with defendants in the latters' automobile. The parties were on a few days' pleasure trip. It was apparently the tacit and mutual understanding that the expenses of transportation, hotels, etc., would be shared equally. Held, plaintiff was a guest within the meaning of the guest statute, and thus had no right of recovery against the driver or owner for injury resulting from the negligence of the driver. McCann v. Hoffman, (Cal. 1937) 70 P. (2d) 909.

Automobiles - Effect Of Violation Of Penal Licensing Statute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued to recover for damages sustained when a negligent defendant collided with plaintiff's car. An unlicensed operator was driving plaintiff's car at the time. A state statute prohibited the operation of an automobile by an unlicensed driver, and specifically provided that no person shall "permit" operation of his car by such a driver. Held, plaintiff may recover, as he reasonably believed that the driver was licensed. Bowdler v. St. Johnsbury Trucking Co., (N. H. 1937) 189 A. 353.

The Federal Coordinator Of Transportation, Samuel Earnshaw

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Federal Coordinator Of Transportation (Concluded), Samuel Earnshaw

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.