Opinion ID: 2495846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: P-36 (warning devices)

Text: ¶ 35. Instruction P-36 provided: The Court instructs the jury that whenever a truck and trailer combination such as the one in this case is stopped upon the highway at the time of day as in this case, the driver or person in charge of such vehicle shall place upon the highway in a standing position red flags, one at a distance not less than one hundred feet to the rear of the vehicle and one not less than one hundred feet in advance of the vehicle and the third upon the roadway side of the vehicle. The Court further instructs that the flags in such circumstances should be set out with such reasonable and proper diligence, or promptly under all the facts and circumstances of the case. Consequently, the Court instructs that if you find that either (a) the truck did not contain any flags, or (b) that the truck had flags on board but that Cedric Byrd had not been trained on when and how they should be used, then you shall find the Defendants guilty of negligence and determine causation in accordance with the other instructions. If however, you find that (a) flags were on board and (b) Byrd had been trained on the proper usage of the flags, but you further find that Byrd did not act with reasonable and proper diligence, or promptly under the facts and circumstances of the case, then you shall find the Defendants guilty of negligence and determine causation in accordance with the other instructions. ¶ 36. P-36 contains inconsistent and incorrect statements of the law regarding Section 63-7-71. First, and foremost, Section 63-7-71 does not require that a driver place warning devices immediately; rather, he or she must act with reasonable promptness and diligence under the facts and circumstances of the particular case.... Stong, 456 So.2d at 710 (Miss. 1984). The jury must decide whether the driver placed the warning devices with reasonable promptness. Id. at 710-11. The first paragraph of P-36, which appears to be a statement of the law, made it possible for the jury to impose liability without considering the reasonableness of Byrd's actions under the circumstances. True, the second paragraph begins by stating that the flags should be set out with reasonable and proper diligence, or promptly under the facts of the case. But the second sentence of that paragraph directs the jury to find the defendants negligent if the truck did not have flags, or if it had flags but Byrd did not receive training on how they should be used. In other words, flags without training equals negligenceno consideration of reasonableness or proper diligence is required. The final paragraph carries forward the preeminence of Byrd's training. It states that if flags were onboard, and if Byrd had been trained on their use, the jury should impose liability if it finds that Byrd had not acted with reasonable and proper diligence. The problem, once again, is that the reasonableness of Byrd's actions is never reached if the jury finds that he had not been trained. Under P-36, a finding of negligence could very well hinge solely upon whether or not Byrd had received training. The instruction, therefore, was inconsistent, an improper statement of the law, and, arguably, peremptory. Burr, 909 So.2d at 726. ¶ 37. Thomas does not provide Leah and Dewey any support for the granting of P-36. In Thomas, the defendants involved in the accident had admitted that their vehicle lacked any warning devices. Thomas, 667 So.2d at 597. At trial, the plaintiff requested, but the trial court denied, negligence-per-se instructions based on Section 63-7-71. Id. at 597-98. On appeal, the Court held that the Section 63-7-71 negligence-per-se instruction should have been given. Id. at 597. Since the defendants had admitted that their vehicle lacked any warning devices, they could not argue that they would have complied with Stong 's reasonable-promptness standard. Id.; see also Stong, 456 So.2d at 710. ¶ 38. At trial, Byrd and Keys estimated that the trailer had protruded into the road for three to five minutes before the accident happened. Keys thought that the truck had contained warning devices, but both Byrd and Keys acknowledged that no cones, flags, or other warning devices had been placed in the road. Because Byrd had stopped for only a short period of time before resuming his turn, he did not see the need to place any warning devices in the road. McLain added that Independent Roofing trucks had boxes for carrying warning devices, but the devices did not consistently remain in the trucks.