(Download) "Gantt v. Harper" by Supreme Court of Montana # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Gantt v. Harper
- Author : Supreme Court of Montana
- Release Date : January 18, 1928
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 59 KB
Description
Supervisory Control Writ — Automobiles — Personal Injuries — Operation of Cars on Highways of the State by Nonresidents — Service of Summons on Nonresident Defendants by Mail — Motion to Quash Service — When Statute Applies — Order Refusing to Quash Service Upheld — Sufficiency of Evidence Showing Agency of Driver — Statutes and Statutory Construction — Statutes in Derogation of Common Law — Rule. Supervisory Control Writ — Personal Injuries — Automobile Accident on State Highways — Nonresident Defendants — Service of Summons by Mail — Motion to Quash — When Chapter 10, Laws of 1937, Applies. 1. In an action for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident upon a highway in Montana where both plaintiff and defendant were nonresidents, and in which service of summons was made upon the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 10, Laws of 1937, held on application for writ of supervisory control to review an order of the district court refusing to quash service of summons on the ground that the Act did not apply under the facts, that for the purpose of the motion, the question of ownership of the car is immaterial; if the car at the time of the accident was being "operated" — i.e., if the physical act of working its mechanism was being performed by an agent (the driver), the Act applies, the burden of proving that the driver was not defendants agent being upon him. Same — Motion to Quash Service of Summons — Evidence as to Agency of Agent Operating Car — Denial of Motion Held not Error. 2. Evidence adduced at the hearing of a motion to quash service of summons on the Secretary of State under Chapter 10, Laws of 1937, in which a nonresident automobile company was defendant and urged that the person driving the car on the state highway at the time the plaintiff was injured was not its agent, reviewed at length and held not to show that the trial court was manifestly in error in refusing to quash service of summons on the ground that the non-existence of agency had not been shown. (See par. 1.) Statutes in Derogation of Common Law — Rule of Construction of Statutes. 3. The rule that a statute in derogation of the common law must be strictly construed does not apply in this state, the rule rather being, under section 4, Revised Codes, that the Codes establish the law of Page 254 the state respecting the subjects to which they relate and that their provisions and all proceedings thereunder are to be liberally construed with a view to effect their objects and to promote justice. Automobiles — Operation by Nonresidents on State Highways — Purpose of Chapter 10, Supra. 4. In the absence of a provision in Chapter 10, Laws of 1937, to the effect that the Act is intended solely for the benefit of resident plaintiffs against nonresident defendants it may not be so liberally construed as to effect that object; it appearing clear, on the other hand that its object is to further the safety of highway traffic within the state and afford a practicable remedy for damage arising from negligence, by providing for service of summons within the state where service would otherwise be virtually impossible.
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