Common Carrier-Passenger Relationships in California

What do buses, cruise ships, roller coasters, and airplanes all have in common? In California, they are all classified as common carriers. This means that they have a heightened duty to protect their passengers and guests. How far does this duty to protect extend? When does a guest become a passenger? When does a common carrier’s duty to a specific passenger expire? If a passenger is injured in or around a common carrier, the answers to these questions will help to narrow down the scope of potentially liable parties.

Who is a Common Carrier’s Passenger?

What makes a guest a “passenger” for the purposes of the common carrier’s duty to prevent harm? Common sense would indicate that a person becomes a passenger when they board a vessel, vehicle, or equipment. However, California law does not require a person to actually board a common carrier’s vehicle in order to be labeled as a passenger. Instead, a person will be considered a common carrier’s passenger when: The person intended to become a passenger; The person was accepted as a passenger by the common carrier; andThe person placed themselves under the control of that common carrier.In simpler terms, there must be some meeting of the minds and a mutual agreement to engage in a common carrier-passenger relationship. When this mutual agreement is executed, and the person puts themselves in the hands of the common carrier, that person will be considered a passenger. As a passenger, this person will be owed an elevated duty of care. The common carrier must use the “highest care and vigilance of a very cautious person” to protect that passenger from foreseeable harm.

Methods of Accepting a Passenger

order to be considered a passenger, a common carrier must “accept” that passenger. What kind of conduct could be considered acceptance for the purposes of defining who is (or is not) a passenger? According to California courts, common carriers need only engage in “some action indicating acceptance of the passenger as a traveler.” This could potentially include behavior such as scanning or collecting a ticket, accepting and checking luggage, or collecting signatures on a liability waiver.

When Does a Common Carrier Have a Duty to Protect Its Passengers?

A common carrier has a duty to protect anyone legally classified as a passenger from foreseeable harm. This duty engages as soon as a person is legally designated as a passenger. It does not matter if that passenger has boarded the common carrier’s vessel, vehicle, or equipment. As long as there is a standing common carrier-passenger relationship, the common carrier has a duty to exercise extreme caution. At the same time, the passenger assumes a duty to act reasonably and look out for their own safety.

When does the common carrier’s duty to a passenger extinguish? In reviewing cases that pose this question, California courts have determined that a common carrier’s duty will only cease when the passenger has “disembarked and entered a place of relative safety.” Put another way, a common carrier’s duty a passenger exists until that passenger has moved a safe distance away from the common carrier and is no longer subject to any of that carrier’s hazards or risks.

What if There is No Common Carrier-Passenger Relationship?

Just because there is no common carrier-passenger relationship does not mean that a victim cannot hold that common carrier responsible for injuries. The common carrier will still be required to exercise ordinary care for those individuals who are categorized as guests or visitors. This means that a common carrier can still be held legally responsible for damages that occur as a result of their wrongful, reckless, or negligent conduct if there was a breach of an ordinary duty of care.

For more than 17 years, attorneys Sherwin Arzani and Oliver Naimi have been assisting accident victims in the greater Los Angeles area recover compensation for their injuries. At Citywide Law Group, they routinely handle complex personal injury claims, including those for injuries resulting from common carrier-related negligence.