Wold v. Gardner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Since it was held on the former appeal that the questions of gross negligence and independent negligence of respondent were questions of fact for the jury to determine, the very emphatic assertion of appellants that they do not state the law, but that the law is as decided in the Wayson case, supra [Wayson v. Rainier Taxi Co., 136 Wash. 274 , 239 Pac. 559 (1925)], that, where a passenger enters an automobile knowing the driver thereof to be intoxicated, he is guilty of independent negligence as a matter of law and the jury has no option in the matter, is defeated by the fact that respondent testified that he did not know, when they began the return journey from British Columbia on the night in question, that the driver was intoxicated, and it was not until they had left Ferndale and were driving on the Chuckanut drive that he began to notice that the driver was driving too rapidly. All the other facts given by him were as stated in the former decision herein [Wolden v. Gardner, supra].””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 57 Wash. 2d 524 - Miller v. Treat

2. ““The rule applicable to this situation is that if the plaintiff, in the exercise of due and ordinary care, such as would be exercised by a reasonably prudent and cautious man, saw, or should have seen, that the driver of the car was conducting himself in a negligent manner, and if, under those circumstances, in the exercise of due and ordinary care, a reasonably prudent and cautious man would have warned or cautioned or attempted to persuade the driver from his reckless conduct and drive his car in a careful and prudent manner, and failed to give such warning or caution or to make such attempt, and such failure caused or contributed to the collision, then the passenger would be guilty of contributory negligence which would bar his recovery.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 57 Wash. 2d 524 - Miller v. Treat

3. ““You are hereby instructed that ‘negligence’ is failure to use ordinary care while ‘gross negligence’ is failure to observe slight care.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hayslip v. George