Opinion ID: 1293616
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the driver

Text: The driver was last seen alive at a local lounge about 25 minutes before the collision. He was drinking beer, but a companion, who testified, said that he did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol of any kind. Tests made to determine the amount of alcohol in his blood indicated.061%. [1] There is abundant evidence, to the exclusion of all other reasonable inferences, that the driver operated the TransAm at a speed of 70 miles per hour, or in excess thereof, along a residential street just in and just outside the city of Florence, past a sign limiting speed to 35 miles per hour, and past reflective barricades 7 feet high and 10 feet long, with Bridge Out and Road Closed signs clearly visible for several hundred feet, and did not apply his brakes until he was 188 feet beyond the barricade and within 162 feet of the bridge site. The driver obviously grossly exceeded the speed limit, failed to drive at an appropriately reduced speed, failed to keep the vehicle under proper control, failed to maintain a proper lookout, and operated the TransAm with utter disregard for his own safety and the safety of his passenger. To reach the conclusion, as a matter of law, that his conduct was grossly negligent, wanton and reckless, we need not consider the excluded testimony of Officer Gainey.