Maloree McDonough Tully (Birmingham, AL) (Automobile Liability) obtained a Final Summary Judgment in Jefferson County, Alabama, on a case involving a motor vehicle accident and claimed bodily injuries based on the Alabama Guest Passenger Statute.
Plaintiff brought a bodily injury claim in relation to a motor vehicle accident against the driver of the vehicle in which she was a passenger, and an uninsured motorist claim against our client, Allstate Insurance Company. Plaintiff claimed that the Defendant Driver failed to yield the right of way and turned left in front of an oncoming vehicle at an intersection. The undisputed testimony of all parties showed that Plaintiff and the Defendant Driver were in a relationship and Plaintiff was being given a ride to work the morning of the accident as a favor from her boyfriend, Defendant Driver. Both Plaintiff and Defendant Driver testified that Plaintiff did not pay Defendant Driver for the ride to work, nor did she compensate him in any other way such as buying him gas or food on the day of the accident.
At the hearing on the Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiff attempted to argue that there was still a question of fact as to whether Plaintiff was a guest passenger instead of a paying passenger since she had, in the past, bought gas and food for Defendant Driver for the rides to work. Maloree argued that the Alabama Guest Passenger Statue requires that the benefit conferred on the person giving the ride must be material and tangible and not just incidental to hospitality or goodwill. Since both Plaintiff and Defendant Driver testified that the rides to work were done as a favor to a significant other, Plaintiff could not prove her case.
The Court agreed and granted the Motion for Final Summary Judgment finding that the Plaintiff was a guest in Defendant Driver’s vehicle and was therefore precluded from recovery pursuant to the Alabama Guest Passenger Statute.