that is a "cardinal rule of statutory construction"
How later courts described this case
- that is a "cardinal rule of statutory construction"
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
DENECKE, J.,
specially concurring.
I concur rather than dissent because the plaintiff does not contend that if the statute were applicable and was violated, such violation would not constitute negligence per se. I am of the opinion that it would not.
This decision is an apt illustration of the fallacy of holding that a violation of a criminal traffic law precludes one from recovering in a civil damage action. See Mr. Justice O’Connell’s dissent in McConnell v. Herron, 240 Or 486, 494 , 402 P2d 726 (1965). The Department of Education directed that for safety purposes a school bus should be stopped in the right-hand lane of traffic. The legislature, however, had previously provided that it was a crime for any vehicle to stop upon the highway. We are deciding that the plaintiff acted unsafely as a matter of law although he did precisely what the safety regulation directed him to do.