Opinion ID: 1631067
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jury Instruction P-17 (operating at a slow speed)

Text: ś 88. Carla next contends that the trial court erred by denying jury instruction P-17 concerning negligence of a driver operating a vehicle at a speed and manner which would constitute a hazard to the flow of traffic or to other vehicles traveling in the same roadway. The trial court determined that the evidence was insufficient to support the instruction. When discussed further, the trial court also found that the tractor-trailer's speed was not unreasonably slow as a matter of law. ś 89. Hunter, the tractor-trailer driver, testified that he was traveling between forty to forty-five miles per hour in the right-hand lane at the time of the collision. The posted speed limit at the site of the collision was sixty-five miles per hour. Trooper Shive testified that Highway 61 had no minimum speed limit, and vehicles regularly traveled at forty to forty-five miles per hour. He also stated that the right lane is for slower traffic. Trooper Shive was called to the scene of the accident at 11:50 p.m., and he arrived shortly thereafter at 11:59 p.m. No evidence suggested that any other vehicles were traveling on that stretch of Highway 61. ś 90. Carla cited Wheat v. Teche, 181 Miss. 408, 179 So. 553 (1938), for the holding that the operation of a motor vehicle at less than the fixed rate of speed may be negligent and is a question for the jury. Id. at 555. The trial court considered Wheat during discussions on jury instructions and found the facts distinguishable from Carla's case. We agree. In Wheat, this Court reversed and remanded a trial court's grant of directed verdict in favor of Teche Lines. Id. Wheat was standing by the side of the roadway in front of his truck when a Teche Lines bus passed within one foot of Wheat, causing particles from rocks and slag to strike Wheat and injure his eye. Id. at 554. The roadway at that particular point had a gravel-like surface, was red-flagged, and had thirty-six feet of clear space, yet the Teche Line bus drove within one foot of Wheat at no more than fifty miles per hour. Id. The Court found that under those facts, the jury should determine whether the bus driver was traveling on the roadway at a reasonable rate of speed, exercised reasonable care, and could have reasonably foreseen the possibility of injury. Id. at 554-55. ś 91. The facts in Carla's case are distinguishable from Teche. The statutes at issue were different in the two cases, and no evidence was presented to show a hazard to the flow of traffic. This is true because Hunter drove no more than forty-five miles per hour, traveled in the right-hand lane of two southbound lanes, and the accident occurred two and one-half miles from Hunter's point of entry onto Highway 61. This Court has held that a trial court may refuse a jury instruction that is not supported by the evidence. Cato, 15 So.3d at 423. The trial court did not err, because the evidence was insufficient to support the instruction.