May v. Warnick

Prescott, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. As a result of a collision on May 6, 1959, between a pickup truck and a Ford automobile, two suits were instituted in the Circuit Court for Allegany County. One was by the appellant May, the owner and operator of the Ford, against the appellee Warnick, the operator of the truck, and his employer (the owner of the truck), Feldstein Iron & Metal Company, for personal injuries to May and property damage to his car; the other was by the appellee, Warnick, for his own use and to the use of the State Accident Fund, for personal injuries and loss of wages. The cases were consolidated and tried before a court and jury, resulting in a verdict and a judgment for costs against May in the first case, and a verdict and judgment in the amount of $10,000 in favor of the plaintiff against May in the second one.

May appeals from both judgments. ⁸⁰ Only two questions are presented: First, did the trial court err in its instructions to the jury? Second, did said Court err in failing to direct a verdict in favor of May in the case brought against him by Warnick? The accident occurred on a clear morning on Bedford Street in the City of Cumberland. Bedford Street in the vicinity of the accident is a straight, macadam surfaced, almost level, one-way, two-lane, through roadway, 20 feet in width, with all traffic moving in a southerly direction.

It constitutes a segment of U. S. Route 220 bringing traffic into the City from the north. Frederick Street, one block to the east, parallels Bedford Street, and provides one-way traffic for vehicles moving north on said Route 220. Valentine Street is a two-way street running east and west and intersects both streets at right angles, but does not cross either. May and Warnick gave conflicting accounts of how the accident happened.

Warnick testified that he intended to make a left turn into Valentine Street from Bedford Street. He looked into his rear view mirror and saw no traffic on the highway. When about ISO or 200 feet from the intersection, he drove his vehicle from the right lane of traffic into the left lane, gave a hand signal and, while turning into Valentine Street, was struck on the left side by the right front end of the May vehicle. May stated that he was following Warnick’s truck in the right-hand lane of traffic, and, when about three blocks from Valentine Street, pulled into the left lane and started to pass the truck.

Warnick speeded up a little and May dropped back with both vehicles moving in their respective lanes of traffic. When they reached the intersection of Valentine Street the Warnick truck attempted to make a left turn from the right-hand lane of traffic and the right front end of the May car collided with the left door of the pick-up truck, causing the damages and injuries complained of in both suits. May’s version of the accident was corroborated, at least in part, by the testimony of a disinterested motorist, who was following both vehicles south on Bedford Street, and by a City Police Officer, who investigated the accident and took photographs of the accident, which were produced at the trial. ⁸¹ The trial judge denied May’s motion for a directed verdict in the case where he was the defendant; and, over his objection, instructed the jury that in determining negligence or contributory negligence by the operators of the vehicles, “there are certain statutes or ‘rules of the road,’ which motorists must abide by * * and included in his instructions Code (1957), Article 66j4, Section 221, Subsections (a), (b) and (b) (2), the latter of which states that a vehicle shall not be “driven to the left side of the roadway” when approaching within 100 feet of, or traversing, any intersection, informing the jury that said subsections were applicable to the case and could be considered by them in determining whether May was negligent. Our principal inquiry is whether the said provisions of Section 221 which were included in the court’s charge apply to highways designated for one-way traffic.* 1 23The rules that ⁸² govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction are, for the main part, contained in Sections 217, 219, 220, 221, and 223.

Section 217, in part, requires that upon all highways of sufficient width, a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half thereof, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, and when proceeding upon a roadway divided into three marked lanes or a one-way thoroughfare. Section 219 provides, among other things, that, subject to limitations and exceptions, drivers of motor vehicles overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left thereof. Section 220 states that a driver may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle which is making, or about to make, a left turn; that, within business and residential districts, a driver may overtake and, allowing sufficient clearance, pass another vehicle moving in the same direction, either on the right or left, on a highway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for four or more lines of moving traffic, when such movement may be made with safety; and that overtaking and passing to the right is permitted on one-way streets, where the roadway is free of obstructions and of sufficient width to accommodate at least two lines of moving traffic.* 2 Section 221 is set forth in footnote (1). Section 223 provides, inter alia, that upon highways clearly marked into three or more lanes, vehicles shall be driven as nearly as practical within a single lane; and upon highways divided into three lanes, vehicles shall not be driven in the center lane except when overtaking and passing another vehicle, when preparing for a left turn, or when the center lane is at the time ⁸³ allocated exclusively to traffic moving in the same direction as the vehicle is proceeding.

It is well-established law that in construing legislative enactments, all statutes relating to the same subject matter are to be considered and harmonized as far as possible. And this rule applies when the statutes were passed at different dates, separated by long or short intervals. The statutes are to be compared and brought into full accord if possible, but if they are insusceptible of a construction which will permit all their provisions to fall into complete agreement,- they are to be made to operate together as far as possible, consistent with the evident intent of the latest enactment. Balto.

Credit Union v. Thorne, 214 Md. 200 , 134 A. 2d 84 . Cf. Reed v. President & Com’rs of the Town of North East, 226 Md. 229 , 172 A. 2d 536 ; Height v. State, 225 Md. 251 , 170 A. 2d 212 ; Phillips v. Comptroller, 224 Md. 350 , 167 A. 2d 913 . An examination of our statutes, as we have outlined them above, discloses that the provisions of Section 221 are not explicitly made either applicable or inapplicable to one-way roadways; and we have not heretofore been called upon to determine the question, but our research has uncovered decisions of our sister states that are so closely in point that they, together with the unanimity of thought upon the subject, free the question from serious difficulty.

We shall discuss these cases later. There can be little doubt that one of the primary reasons for prohibiting an overtaking vehicle from going to the left side of the road in passing another at, or within a specified distance from, an intersection is that the front car may be anticipating a left turn. 3 Berry, Automobiles (7th Ed.), § 3.42; Cierley v. Uhalt, 10 P. 2d 769 (1932) (Cal.); 3 Blashfield, Cyc., Automobile Law & Practice, § 965. If the present provisions of the law are complied with, there is little danger from this source: the motorist contemplating a left turn is required to approach the intersection (where two-way traffic is being accommodated on both streets) in that portion of the right half of the roadway nearest the center line thereof (giving an appropriate signal, in accordance with Sections 228, 229 and 230), but he is prohibited from passing to the left ⁸⁴ of the center until the intersection is reached, Section 225 (b) ; and the following motorist is forbidden to pass the lead vehicle on the left of the roadway, Section 221 (b) (2). This prohibition in Section 221 against overtaking and passing “to the left side of the roadway * * * when approaching within 100 feet of or traversing any intersection,” when applied to two-way highways, eliminates much of the danger of a collision that would be involved if the overtaking vehicle were permitted to pass on the left, or wrong, side of the road at or near the intersection.

However, the danger of a collision between a leading vehicle, whose operator anticipates a left turn, and a following vehicle is not enhanced by permitting the overtaking driver to pass the lead vehicle on the left side of the road at or near an intersection, if the highway be such that traffic is only permitted to proceed in one direction. In that case, the motorist intending to turn left must “approach the intersection in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel” of his vehicle, Section 225 (e), and give a proper signal of his intention to turn left. Hence it is obvious that if the driver making the left turn complies with the law, the passing vehicle, even though it may be to the left of the center of the one-way roadway, must pass to his right; and passing to the right on one-way thoroughfares is explicitly authorized by Section 220 (c) . The above is significant, we think, in showing that the underlying reason for prohibiting a motorist from going to the left of the center of the road, when passing a vehicle at or near an intersection, is not present, when the motorist and the vehicle being passed are proceeding on a one-way highway.

A careful reading and analysis of the specific terms of Section 221, (a), (b), and (b) (2), impel a conclusion that they were designed to apply to two-way traffic, and not to direct the conduct of motorists proceeding on one-way roadways. Subsection (a), in prohibiting a vehicle being driven to the left of the center of the roadway in passing another vehicle, “unless such left side * * * is free of oncoming traffic,” and such overtaking and passing may be completed “without interfering with the safe operation of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction” (italics ours) makes it cer ⁸⁵ tain that these