Opinion ID: 2299497
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Last Clear Chance and the Facts of This Case

Text: The outcome of this appeal depends on whether Mr. Young adequately proved the second, third, and fourth elements of last clear chance as outlined in Felton. [7] Therefore, it is important to emphasize that the second element may be proved in either of two ways. The plaintiff needs to show either that he was oblivious to the danger or that he was unable to extricate himself from his position of peril, but not both. Equally important is the objective standard inherent in the third element. The defendant need not have actually known of the plaintiff's danger and his obliviousness to it or inability to extricate himself from it, provided that the defendant should reasonably have been aware of those facts. This court has also clarified that the same is true of the fourth element, which pertains to a defendant who, with means available to him, could have avoided injuring the plaintiff after he became aware of, or reasonably should have become aware of, the danger and the plaintiff's inability to extricate himself from it. Robinson, 580 A.2d at 1258; accord, Huysman, 650 A.2d at 1326. In asserting that the trial court erred in denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, WMATA contends that Mr. Young did not adequately prove any of the last three elements of last clear chance. We agree that the evidence did not compel a verdict in Mr. Young's favor, nor does he contend otherwise. Our review of the denial of a motion for judgment n.o.v., however, is limited. This court will only reverse a denial of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict if `no reasonable person, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, could reach a verdict in favor of that party.' Huysman, 650 A.2d at 1326 (citation omitted). Applying this standard to the present case, we hold that although the issue is very close, the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that the bus driver had the last clear chance to avoid the accident. Before addressing the substance of appellant's argument, we must point out that the elements of last clear chance build on one another: the second depends on proof of the first, the third on the second, and so on. Thus, although the first element is not at issue in this appeal, we begin our analysis there to determine when Mr. Young arrived at a position of peril. The evidence showed that Young reached that point when he negligently rode up alongside a bus that was going to make an improper right turn from the left lane. Prior to that moment, the possibility of danger existed, but there was still an opportunity for Young to avoid it. Once he arrived at the side of the bus, however, he was in a dangerous position. Turning to the second element, we are reluctant to suggest that Young was oblivious to the danger posed by the bus. Although Young testified that the bus made no indication that it was going to turn right before it suddenly crossed his path, he had seen the bus long before he rode up beside it. The specific danger posed by the bus was not obvious until it abruptly turned right, but any vehicle as big as a bus poses a threat to smaller vehicles, especially bicycles. That is why we held in Washington v. A & H Garcias Trash Hauling Co., supra , that [t]he bicyclist, for his own safety, was obliged to pay close attention to the movements of the truck, and to anticipate the possibility that it might turn right, toward the bicycle. 584 A.2d at 546. But the evidence, particularly Mr. Young's own testimony, would permit a reasonable jury to find that he was in an inextricable position of peril when he rode up alongside the bus. Young stated that when the bus suddenly turned in front of him, he tried to avoid running into it by braking and turning to the right. That attempt, as it turned out, was unsuccessful. In addition, from her vantage point just a few feet away, Colleen Morgan concluded that Young could not have done anything to avoid the accident. Young's inextricability from his position of peril is further evidenced by the accident itself. While such an inference may not always be possible, one can reasonably infer from the circumstances presented here that if Young had been able to avoid the accident, he would have done so. The jury was not obliged to accept Herman Adkins' assertion that Young had means available to avoid colliding with the bus. We are not persuaded by WMATA's argument that Young was required to present expert testimony to prove his inextricability from the position of peril. In Felton we held that the plaintiff's testimony that she froze in place when she saw the defendant's car bearing down on her satisfied the second element of last clear chance. 512 A.2d at 297. Furthermore, the issue of whether Young was able to avoid colliding with the bus was not so distinctly related to some science, profession, or occupation as to be beyond the ken of the average lay person. District of Columbia v. Peters, 527 A.2d 1269, 1273 (D.C.1987) (citations omitted). The average lay person has sufficient experience with vehicles, including bicycles, to understand how they and their operators react to various situations. We see no need to require an expert to explain Young's behavior in terms of rates of acceleration and braking. While such information may be useful and even critical in some cases, [8] it was not needed here. Avoiding the accident came down to split second reactions which the jury was capable of assessing without the aid of an expert. We hold that although Mr. Young's evidence was not strong, it was sufficient to support an inference that he was unable to extricate himself from his position of peril, and hence sufficient to prove the second element of last clear chance. Whether there was sufficient evidence of the third element is an equally close question. Nevertheless, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Mr. Young, we conclude that a reasonable jury could find that the bus driver knew or should have known that Young was in a position of peril and was unable to extricate himself from that position. The diagrams contained in WMATA's SOP for the positioning of mirrors on a bus indicate that the right exterior mirror should be positioned so that the driver can see objects that are near the rear of the bus. Accepting Colleen Morgan's testimony that Young was four to five feet from the rear of the bus and on the right side of the bus when he entered the intersection, the jury could find that the driver saw or (more likely) reasonably should have seen Young in the right exterior mirror if it were properly positioned. From such a finding, the jury could also conclude that the bus driver should have been aware of Young's peril. Furthermore, even if the mirror did not provide a view of Young as he rode up next to the bus, the driver testified that he saw Young in his interior mirror just as he was going into his turn. Although he also said that he thought Young was on the sidewalk and hence out of harm's way, a trier of fact could reasonably conclude that the driver should have checked his mirrors again and, if no view of what was behind the bus was available, taken other precautions to ensure that the bicycle was not in a dangerous position. WMATA's SOP for right turns instructs a bus driver to [u]se [the] right side view and [the] inside mirror to determine that [the] right side of [the] bus will clear the corner curb and vehicles or pedestrians. If unsure of clearance, stop the bus and check. WMATA's reliance on Felton in this situation is misplaced. The defendant in Felton drove across a double yellow line to go around a delivery truck that was blocking traffic and struck the plaintiff, who was jaywalking across a busy downtown street in the middle of the block. As he came around the truck, the defendant saw the plaintiff, who was at most a few car lengths away, but was unable to stop before hitting her. We held that there was no evidence that the defendant was aware or could have been aware of the plaintiff's perilous situation in time to avoid the accident. 512 A.2d at 297. By contrast, the evidence in this case indicates that the bus driver saw or reasonably should have seen Mr. Young on his bicycle before he made the turn  and therefore in time to avoid the accident. Having thus concluded that Mr. Young sufficiently proved the third element of last clear chance, we turn to the fourth element and conclude that, because the driver reasonably should have seen Young before initiating the right turn, he could have avoided the accident by stopping or otherwise aborting the turn. Colleen Morgan specifically testified that, as the situation appeared to her, the bus could have avoided the accident by stopping if the driver had seen Mr. Young. WMATA's claim that the driver would have had to act instantaneously to avoid the accident, see Huysman, 650 A.2d at 1326; Phillips, 198 A.2d at 742, is unpersuasive because it assumes that the driver was under no duty to act until after he began the turn. The jury could reasonably find, however, that the driver could and should have avoided the accident by stopping before he began his turn. Moreover, WMATA's SOP instructs drivers to ensure that the right side of the bus is clear before attempting a right turn. The jury could have found that, had the driver followed the SOP, he would have seen Mr. Young riding his bicycle to the right of the bus and would have been able to avoid the accident by simply not turning.