Schwalbe v. Jones

Opinion

SULLIVAN, J.

In Brown v. Merlo (1973) 8 Cal.3d 855 [106 Cal.Rptr. 388, 506 P.2d 212, 66 A.L.R.3d 505], we held that former section 17158 of the Vehicle Code, the so-called “guest statute,” was violative of the equal protection guarantees of the United States and California Constitutions insofar as it precluded recovery by a nonowner “guest” against the driver or one legally liable for the conduct of the driver on account of personal injury to or death of the guest proximately resulting from the simple negligence of the driver. We expressly declined at that time to intimate an opinion as…