Title: Mickey v. Ayers
Citation: 336 Pa. Super. 512, 485 A.2d 1199
Docket Number: N/A
State: Pennsylvania
Issuer: Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Date: December 14, 1984

336 Pa. Superior Ct. 512 (1984) 485 A.2d 1199 James Peter MICKEY and Helen Mickey, Appellants, v. Elwood AYERS and Irene E. Ayers. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Argued April 26, 1984. Filed December 14, 1984. *513 Richard E. Santee, Jr., Bethlehem, for appellants. Thomas R. Elliott, Jr., Easton, for appellees. *514 Before McEWEN, BECK and HOFFMAN, JJ. HOFFMAN, Judge: Appellants contend that the trial court committed reversible error in charging the jury on the "assured clear distance ahead" rule, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3361. Because we find appellants' contention meritless, we affirm the lower court's denial of appellants' motion for new trial. This case involves conflicting versions of a two-car, head-on collision that occurred on June 28, 1980, on Route 611, a winding road in Forks Township, Northampton County. Appellants, Mr. and Mrs. Mickey, allege that appellee, Mr. Ayers, driving north on the two-lane highway, went off the road to his right, struck a guardrail, and then ricocheted into the southbound lane, the lane in which appellants were traveling. Because of the emergency created by the sudden appearance of appellee's automobile, appellants swerved into the northbound lane to avoid appellee, but there crashed head-on into appellee who had moved back into his proper lane of travel. Appellees, Mr. and Mrs. Ayers,[*] allege that appellants crossed over into their lane, that appellee tried to maneuver his car as far to the right as possible so as to avoid the oncoming car, and that the cars thereupon collided head-on. On February 4, 1981, appellants filed a complaint in trespass against appellees seeking damages for personal injuries sustained in the crash. Counsel for both sides agreed to bifurcate the trial, with only the issue of liability to be heard by the jury. After a June 21-22 trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of appellees, finding that appellee had not been negligent. Thereafter, appellants timely filed a motion for new trial which was denied by the court on October 19, 1982. This appeal followed. To constitute reversible error, a jury instruction must be shown not only to have been erroneous but also *515 harmful to the party complaining. Anderson v. Hughes, 417 Pa. 87, 92, 208 A.2d 789, 791 (1965); see also Junk v. East End Fire Department, 262 Pa.Superior Ct. 473, 485, 396 A.2d 1269, 1275 (1978) (harmless errors in instructing the jury will not warrant the granting of a new trial). In determining whether error has been committed, the charge must be read in its entirety. James v. Ferguson, 401 Pa. 92, 97, 162 A.2d 690, 693 (1960); Harman et ux. v. Chambers, 358 Pa. 516, 519, 57 A.2d 842, 844 (1948); Murphy v. Dyer, 223 Pa. 18, 22, 72 A. 276, 277 (1909). Here, the pertinent parts of the charge are as follows: (N.T., Court's Charge to the Jury, June 22, 1982 at 13-15, 17-19, 28) (emphasis added). We think it is apparent from reading the above charge, especially the emphasized portions, that the lower court left it to the jury to decide which provisions of the Code, if any, either of the parties had violated. Appellants contend, however, that (1) a court may not charge a jury as to the assured clear distance ahead rule when a sudden emergency arises, and (2) in any event, under the facts of this case, the rule does not apply. "[T]he rule requires that such control be maintained as will enable *518 a driver to stop and avoid obstructions that fall within his vision." Unangst v. Whitehouse, 235 Pa.Superior Ct. 458, 463, 344 A.2d 695, 698 (emphasis added). "[I]t is entirely reasonable to say that one should not run into a stationary object on the road which is, and has been, in plain view for everyone to see. . . ." Flick v. James Monfredo, Inc., 356 F. Supp. 1143, 1148 (E.D.Pa. 1973). This Court has held that when a sudden emergency arises, a court may not charge the jury as to the assured clear distance ahead rule. Brown v. Schriver, 254 Pa.Superior Ct. 468, 475, 386 A.2d 45, 48 (1978), citing Unangst v. Whitehouse, supra, 235 Pa.Superior Ct. at 465, 344 A.2d at 699 (1975). However, "[w]here the facts do not conclusively establish the existence of a sudden emergency, it is proper to charge the jury on both the assured clear distance rule and the sudden emergency doctrine in order that the jury has the applicable law to apply the facts as they find them." Potenburg v. Varner, 284 Pa.Superior Ct. 19, 22, 424 A.2d 1370, 1372 (1981); Stacy v. Thrower Trucking, Inc., 253 Pa.Superior Ct. 150, 156-60, 384 A.2d 1274, 1277-79 (1978). Here, however, there is no allegation that appellants violated the rule; instead, appellees argue simply that appellants were on the wrong side of the road. Thus, whether or not appellants were confronted with a sudden emergency, the assured clear distance ahead rule could not apply to them because there was no evidence that they collided with any fixed obstacle. Therefore, in order for the court's charge to be correct, the rule must be applicable to appellee's conduct. Appellants correctly assert that the rule applies to static or essentially static objects but is inapplicable if it is found that the vehicles involved were moving in opposite directions toward one another. Adams v. Mackleer, 239 Pa.Superior Ct. 244, 250, 361 A.2d 439, 442 (1976); Turner v. Smith, 237 Pa.Superior Ct. 161, 165-69, 346 A.2d 806, 808-09 (1975). Under either party's version of the accident, the instant case involved a head-on collision, and thus the rule would be inapplicable in that respect. We agree, *519 however, with the lower court that the rule could still quite properly apply to appellee's alleged striking of the guardrail. See Lower Court Opinion at 6. As appellant testified: (N.T. June 22, 1982 at 7). See also Brown v. Schriver, supra, 254 Pa.Superior Ct. at 476, 386 A.2d at 49 ("court should have instructed the jury to consider whether appellee, paying due regard to the traffic surface, should have and could have seen the alleged loose gravel before slipping upon it"). In short, the jury could have found that appellee failed to exercise proper vehicular control "when approaching or going around a curve [and] when traveling upon any narrow or winding roadway." 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3361. Therefore, we disagree with appellants' contention that the assured clear distance ahead rule does not apply to this case. Additionally, while the trial court could have more precisely limited the applicability of the rule to appellee's conduct, we nonetheless find no prejudice to appellants so as to constitute grounds for reversal. Appellants contend that the trial court committed "clear and reversible" error in charging on the rule, but nowhere in their brief do they aver how they were prejudiced thereby. We also fail to see how the charge prejudiced appellants when the jury specifically found appellee non-negligent and, thus, did not even reach the question of appellants' contributory negligence. Indeed, the charge could even have conceivably helped appellants if the jury believed that appellee had violated the rule by colliding with the guardrail. Cf. Sweeny v. Bonafiglia, 403 Pa. 217, 220-21, 169 A.2d 292, 293-94 (1961) (inaccurate portion of the charge hurt non-complaining party). Furthermore, the court's charge expressly removed appellants from the operation of the rule in the event that *520 the jury believed that a sudden and clear emergency existed: "So, in summary, where a sudden, clear emergency arises within the range of the previously assured clear distance, the Assured Clear Distance Rule does not apply." (N.T., Court's Charge to the Jury, June 22, 1982 at 15). We find no error, therefore, in the court's charging as to the assured clear distance ahead rule. Accordingly, we affirm. Affirmed. [*] Mrs. Ayers was not with her husband at the time of the incident, but she was named as a defendant in the complaint because she and her husband were the owners of the car driven by Mr. Ayers.