Slutter v. Homer’s Empirical Analysis
1966
Citation profile
41 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 41 later decisions — most recently April 2018 · most notably James v. Goldberg (1970), Dean v. Redmiles (1977)
41 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Schneider v. Schneider · Grue v. Schmidbauer · Myers v. Shipley · Wallace v. Fowler · Merritt v. Darden
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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““The doctrine of imputed negligence rests on the presumption that the non-driving owner had the right to control the vehicle. That presumption, as Merritt states, is rebuttable; the presumption is based, not on the actual exercise of control, but on the right to exercise it. The agency doctrine, on the other hand, rests on the relationship of the parties and the nature of the expedition during which the accident occurred. Imputed negligence, like agency, is based on the relationship, but turns on the facts in respect of the right to control, whereas the agency theory applies where it is pertinent, irrespective of the momentary right of physical control. In short, the agency doctrine is predicated on a status rather than on inference of fact (emphasis supplied).””
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Mackey v. Dorsey · Cole v. Woods“[T]he imputed negligence theory has been criticized as unrealistic and fictitious. See Prosser, Torts (1955) Sec. 54 and Note, 17 Ark.L.Rev. 91, 92 (1962-1963); 11 Drake L.Rev. 57, 60 (1961). The criticism rests on the practical consideration that, while back-seat driving is generally an annoyance, and sometimes a danger, it is almost never a physical fact. Restatement, Second, Torts, Sec. 485 rejects the doctrine of “imputed contributory negligence” as based on theories of a fictitious agency relation, which are now generally recognized as pure fiction, and no longer valid.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“* * * [I]f the purpose of the journey is for the benefit of the owner, even though it is also for the benefit of him who is permitted to drive, the owner may under the principles of the law of Agency be regarded as the master of the driver even though no wages or reward other than the participation in the drive is paid to him.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.