Cole v. Woods

OPINION

HENRY, Justice.

We granted certiorari in this wrongful death action primarily in order to reexamine the rule of law requiring that in a suit against a third party tortfeasor, the negligence of a non-owner driver must be imputed to a non-negligent owner passenger. 1 The Court of Appeals felt constrained to follow the rule announced in Ringwald v. Beene, 170 Tenn. 116, 92 S.W.2d 411 (1936) and followed in other cases, notably, Angel v. McClean, 173 Tenn. 191, 116 S.W.2d 1005 (1938) and Snyder v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co., 183 Tenn. 471, 192 S.W.2d 1008 (1946).

I

On Tuesday night,…