Larson v. Johnson

⁴⁵ Murphy, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Appellant Larson was injured in an automobile accident on November 9, 1969 when the car he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by appellee John Bristow, Jr., a minor, with the permission of its owner Richard Johnson. Larson and his wife sued, among others, Johnson, Bristow, and Bristow’s mother, who had signed her son’s application for a driver’s license and thereby agreed, by reason of the then applicable provisions of Maryland Code, Article 66V2> Section 93 (b) to be “jointly and severally liable with such minor for any damages caused by * * * [his] negligence except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section.” Subsection (c), then in effect, provided: “In the event a minor deposits or there is deposited upon his behalf proof of financial responsibility in respect to the operation of a motor vehicle owned by him, or if not the owner of a motor vehicle, then with respect to the operation of any motor vehicle, in form and in amounts as required under the motor vehicle financial responsibility laws of this State, then the Department may accept the application of such minor when signed by one parent or the guardian of such minor, and while such proof is maintained such parent or guardian shall not be subject to the liability imposed under this section.” Mrs. Bristow moved for summary judgment; she claimed that her son’s negligence could not be imputed to her under Section 93 (b) because after the accident proof of her son’s financial responsibility, as required by subsection (c), was filed on his behalf by Johnson’s insurance company on its SR-21 form by which it acknowledged that liability insurance covering young Bristow was in effect at the time of the accident. The court granted summary judgment in Mrs. Bristow’s favor “on ⁴⁶ basis of proof of financial responsibility in compliance with Section 93 (b) of Article 66V&-” Larson appealed, claiming that the SR-21 filing on young Bristow’s behalf by Johnson’s insurer did not relieve Mrs. Bristow of her liability under Section 93 (b).

He maintains that neither at the time Bristow filed his application for a driver’s license (September 11, 1969), nor at any time before or after the accident was there on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles any proof of financial responsibility in the form of a JR-11 insurance endorsement for young Bristow. Larson makes the additional assertion, not easily understood, that there was no “automobile policy of insurance in effect that would cover him [young Bristow] in the operation of a motor vehicle in the State of Maryland, even if there has been an automobile liability insurance policy which afforded coverage to the minor son it would have been of no significance.” The thrust of Larson’s contention appears to be that under the provisions of Section 93, the Legislature required, as a condition precedent to a minor obtaining a driver’s license in Maryland, that an adult (parent or guardian) join in the signing of the minor’s application and be held personally responsible for the minor’s negligent operation of a motor vehicle and that “relief of responsibility of the adult signer can only be achieved by the filing of financial responsibility and a financial responsibility certificate, commonly known as the JR-11, and the maintaining of said filing with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles until said time as the minor reaches the age of twenty-one.” Prior to July 1, 1968, filing proof of financial responsibility was a condition precedent to the granting of a driver’s license to a minor. Peninsula Insurance v. Houser, 248 Md. 714, 721 . Subsection (d) of Section 93 provided that a minor’s application for a driver’s license “shall be accompanied by such proof of financial responsibility as is required under the provisions of Section 122 of this Article.” 1 Subsection (e) provided that ⁴⁷ such proof of financial responsibility “shall remain continuous and in effect until such minor licensee shall become twenty-one (21) years of age,” the sanction for non-compliance being suspension of the minor’s license until proof of financial responsibility was renewed.

By Chapter 691 of the Acts of 1968, effective July 1, 1968, subsections (d) and (e) were expressly repealed so that, as the law presently stands, (Article 66V2, Section 6-107) there is no longer a specific statutory provision requiring that proof of financial responsibility in accordance with the provisions of Section 122 accompany the minor’s application for a driver’s license. Mills v. Judd, 256 Md. 144 , relied upon by appellants, holds that the insurance endorsement, commonly designated as “Statutory Coverage for Named Minors,” and usually referred to as the JR-11 endorsement, “is necessary if the parent, guardian, or other responsible adult who signed the minor’s application for a driver’s license is to be free from the imputation of negligence of the minor” imposed under Section 93. But that case was decided under the law in effect prior