Bernosky v. Greff’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Any individual who ‘falls asleep’ naturally, does so either willingly or through exhaustion. If he falls asleep willingly while driving an automobile he is, of course, negligent. If he drives an automobile while he is in such a state of exhaustion that he falls asleep though he does not will to do so, he is equally negligent, for he is chargeable with knowledge that an individual in a state of exhaustion is likely to fall asleep.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Huggins · 65 Wash. 2d 461 - Kaiser v. Suburban Transportation System

2. ““ * * * jpor a driver to sleep at the wheel of a moving automobile makes him prima facie guilty of negligence. If there are any facts which under the circumstances tend to exculpate him from the charge of negligence, the burden of producing them is upon him.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Commonwealth v. Huggins · Spencer v. Bright

3. “Voluntarily to drive on a public street at any time of day or night with eyes closed, or to yield to sleep while operating such kind of dangerous machine as an automobile on a public highway, is to be guilty of a degree of negligence exceeding lack of ordinary care, and is a manifestation of recklessness which may be found by judge or jury to be gross negligence within any reasonable definition of that phrase.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 435 Pa. Super. 162 - Commonwealth v. Cathey