Opinion ID: 2611854
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Related Successive Accidents

Text: Courts have also recognized that the Bruckman rule should not apply if a subsequent injury is legally caused by a previous injury; that is, if an injury legally causes subsequent accidents and injuries, then the tortfeasor causing the first injury can be liable for the subsequent injuries if a jury cannot apportion the damages among the successive tortfeasors. See, e.g., Hashimoto v. Marathon Pipe Line, 767 P.2d 158 (Wyo. 1989). Hashimoto involved a trial against the first of two tortfeasors (the second tortfeasor settled before trial). The trial court instructed the jury that the plaintiff had to prove to a reasonable certainty that his damages were caused by the first tortfeasor and not the second. Dissatisfied with the jury's award, plaintiffs appealed. On appeal, plaintiffs argued that the defendants (once determined to be negligent) had the burden of apportioning damages; and if the jury was unable to apportion, then the defendants would be liable for all damages. The Wyoming Supreme Court disagreed. Relying on Bruckman, the court reasoned that [t]he ultimate injuries were caused by the second collision which is a distinct intervening cause because the first injuries had stabilized. Consequently, it would be inappropriate to hold [the first tortfeasor] liable for the entire damage when no correlation between the two accidents was shown.... [T]he first injuries were not the proximate cause of the second accident. Id. at 161; see also Alexander v. White, 488 P.2d 1120 (Colo.App.1971) (in suit against first of two tortfeasors, court found second injury was not related to first and, thus, first tortfeasor not liable for subsequent injuries); Barkley v. Freeman, 16 Kan.App.2d 575, 583, 827 P.2d 774, 779 (1992) (in suit against first tortfeasor, second accident not a reasonably foreseeable result of first accident); Prosser, supra, § 52, at 352 (there are situations in which the earlier wrongdoer will be liable for the entire damage, but the latter one will not [such as where the earlier accident legally causes a second accident.]). In these jurisdictions, the burden of proof to show the connection between the injuries is on the plaintiff; and if the plaintiff fails to meet the burden, the plaintiff recovers nothing.