Guterman v. Guterman
Guterman v. Guterman
Opinion of the Court
On July IS, 1970 plaintiffs Isaac and Eva Guterman were passengers in au automobile operated by their unemancipated minor son, defendant-appellant, Stuart Guterman. Allegedly because of Stuart’s negligence the vehicle left the road. In his parents’ consolidated actions for personal injuries and related damages resulting from that accident, Stuart’s motion for summary judgment, apparently on the pleadings, was denied on the basis of this Court’s opininion in France v. A.P.A. Transport Corp., 56 N. J. 500 (1970). The Appellate Division granted leave to appeal. We granted defendant’s motion for certification of the appeal pending unheard in the Appellate Division, R. 2:12-2.
Clearly it is the latter, as the trial judge here held. Justice Proctor said in France:
Our decision today goes no further than allowing suits between unemaneipated children and their parents for injuries suffered as a result of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle. [Id. at 507 (emphasis added)].
While in that landmark case the liability sought to be established was that of a parent to his unemancipated minor child, nothing in the opinion suggests that its principle was not intended to embrace actions by the parent against the child. To the extent that Di Martino v. Ventrella, 123 N. J. Super. 128 (Law Div. 1973) stands as authority to the contrary, it is in error and is expressly overruled.
Affirmed.
Clieeokd, J., concurring in result.
For affirmance — Chief Justice Hughes, Justices Jacobs, Mountain, Sullivan, Clieeokd and P ashman, and Judge Coneokd — 6.
For reversal — None.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring). My vote to affirm signifies no more than my agreement with the Court’s interpretation of France v. A.P.A. Transport Corp., 56 N. J. 500 (1970), as including the allowance of suits by a parent against an unemancipated minor child for the cause of action referred to in that opinion. I do not, at this point in this interlocutory proceeding, intimate any view on the underlying policy
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Carl Guterman, an Infant by His Guardian Ad Litem, Isaac Guterman, Plaintiff, and Isaac Guterman, Individually, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Stuart Guterman, Defendant-Appellant, and Eva Guterman, Defendant; Eva Guterman, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Stuart Guterman, Defendant-Appellant
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published