Opinion ID: 1631067
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mark Mori

Text: ś 44. The trial court qualified Mori as an expert truck driver in pretrial procedures. [5] Carla asserts that Mori's expert report stated that the truck should not have been on the road because it had no reflective tape on it. Mori further opined that it was reckless to have the truck on the road, and Preston was killed as a result of the truck being on the road with no reflective tape, as the truck was barely visible and in violation of the FMCSRs. ś 45. As for the issue of visibility, Mori stated during his deposition testimony that he could not testify whether a person other than himself could have seen the trailer without reflective tape. In keeping with this, Mori also stated that he would have been able to see the trailer lights more than a half mile away under similar conditions on the night of the accident, those being a flat Delta road in the wintertime. ś 46. Mori also stated in his deposition that the truck was required to have reflective tape, however, photographs of the accident showed the truck without any reflective tape. Because the truck had no reflective tape, the truck should not have been on the road and the accident would not have happened. When asked whether any of those issues affected the trailer's visibility, Mori stated Well, it â it wasn't supposed to be on the road, so whether it's visible or not, it â it's not supposed to be on the road. Mori also stated that R & R and Hunter would be at fault if the truck was on the roadway without reflective tape, regardless of whether the truck was visible to Preston, because the truck was not legally on the road. Mori was not called as a witness at trial. ś 47. On the issue of visibility, the trial court granted R & R's request to exclude Mori's testimony. The trial court reasoned that Mori's opinion, that [b]y driving at night without reflective tape on the back of the trailer, the driver and operator allowed the trailer to be unrecognizable at night from the rear, thus allowing it to be struck by a following car. I believe that is what happened in this case, was inadmissible, in part, because expert testimony was not needed to assist the jury about driving at night behind a tractor-trailer truck, as it is a common experience. The trial court further stated: This witness bases his opinion that [Preston] did not see the trailer primarily, if not solely, on the fact that there was an absence of reflective or conspicuity tape on the back of the trailer. In the view of this court, such an opinion, based solely thereon, is not based on sufficient facts. Logically, such an opinion would lead to the conclusion that in the absence of reflective tape, it is impossible for any driver to see any commercial transport tractor trailer at night. For these reasons, Mori is precluded from testifying as to the cause of the accident. To this extent, the motions for the defendants to strike the opinion of this witness is GRANTED.