Buffalo Holding Co. v. Shores
Buffalo Holding Co. v. Shores
Opinion of the Court
1. "The owner of a vehicle is not liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior for injuries inflicted by the negligence of the operator while it was being operated on a mission purely personal to the operator.” Brown v. Sheffield, 121 Ga. App. 383 (1) (173 SE2d 891), and see Fambro v. Sparks, 86 Ga. App. 726 (72 SE2d 473); Marketing Sales Industries v. Roberts, 118 Ga. App. 718 (165 SE2d 319); Price v. Star Service &c. Corp., 119 Ga. App. 171 (166 SE2d 593); Early v. Ramey, 119 Ga. App. 621 (168 SE2d 629); Harper v. Brown, 122 Ga. App. 316 (176 SE2d 621). On the corporate defendant’s motion for summary judgment it appears that Freeman was a taxicab driver; that he worked for Buffalo Cab Co., customarily driving between Atlanta and the Atlanta Airport at times between 8 or 9 a'.m. and 4 p.m.; that he used the automobile here involved for business and personal use and was in the process of purchasing it from his employers; that on the day in question he made one trip to the airport in the morning; that he quit work at about 11 a.m., picked up his wife at a grocery store, picked up a friend at her home, 'drove to his apartment, parked the car, ate lunch at home, and at about 1:20 p.m. was watching a baseball game when he heard a noise and looked out to discover that his car had rolled down an incline and collided with a parked vehicle in which plaintiff was sitting.
Freeman was not in the course of his employment as a taxicab operator at the time of the alleged injuries. This is not a situation within the ambit of cases like Ayers v. Barney A. Smith
2. The record is undisputed that Freeman parked the car and left it in "park” gear; there is a question of fact as to whether the emergency brake was on. It is undisputed that it was open, the windows were down, and a young child was sitting behind the wheel at the time it rolled down the incline. The only possible choice of explanations lies in the inference (a) that Freeman negligently failed to secure the car, which eventually rolled downhill of its own accord, or (b) the child who was seen in the car tinkered with the gears or brake or both and thus allowed the automobile to roll down the incline. Under the first hypothesis a jury question on Freeman’s negligence as to the manner in which he secured the vehicle would be presented under Kroger Co. v. Perpall, 105 Ga. App. 682 (4) (125 SE2d 511). Under the second liability might also exist, depending upon the care used in parking the vehicle and whether or not there was a duty to anticipate that young children might be playing around it in such manner as to release the braking mechanisms and that a person or object might be stationed behind -the car in such manner as to be injured if they did so. In this regard see Johnson v. John Deere Plow Co., 214 Ga. 645 (106 SE2d 901). These are matters of proof on the trial of the case, and the court did not err in denying the motion for summary judgment as to Freeman.
3. In his motion for rehearing, counsel for appellee complains that we did not expressly pass on the motion to dismiss the appeal filed in this court. The motion was without merit for the following reasons: Code Ann. § 6-808 states in part: "Where no tran
It should further be noted that Code Ann. § 6-808 directs the clerk to send up the record 20 days after the notice of appeal if the
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I dissent from the opinion rendered in this case on the ground that the appeal should have been dismissed on the authority of the following cases: U-Haul Co. v. A Trailer &c. Rentals, 225 Ga. 195 (167 SE2d 135); Fahrig v. Garrett, 224 Ga. 817 (165 SE2d 126); Jacobs v. Shiver, 226 Ga. 284 (174 SE2d 415); Hardy v. D. G. Machinery &c. Co., 224 Ga. 818 (165 SE2d 127), conformed to in D. G. Machinery &c. Co. v. Hardy, 119 Ga. App. 194 (166 SE2d 580). It necessarily follows that I dissent from any ruling made upon the merits of the case.
I am authorized to state that Judge Eberhardt joins in this dissent.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. For the reasons stated in my dissent in Continental Investment Corp. v. Cherry 124 Ga. App.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BUFFALO HOLDING COMPANY, INC. Et Al. v. SHORES
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published