Opinion ID: 1788754
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: absence of markings

Text: The absence of marks upon the pavement in Linda Jackson's proper lane of travel, the westbound (north) lane of Highway 487, is worthy of discussion. (See App., Ex. D-28-5). The Jacksons' and their expert Rhoades' theory of this accident is that the axle shaft, being defective, broke at the flange area, causing the left rear wheel to fold under the vehicle. They contend that after the axle broke, the left rear tire was punctured by the front edge of the leaf spring, dragged underneath the vehicle and that it ultimately exited under the left rear bumper area of the vehicle. Rhoades tendered to the jury a taped video demonstration which purported to depict the Jacksons' theory of how the accident occurred. The video tape depicted a stationary vehicle in a jacked up position, which was suddenly allowed to fall, as though its left rear axle had fractured. This maneuver was accomplished by speeding up single frame pictures, giving the illusion of motion. Rhoades testified, Lets go on through the pictures now, and we'll put it all together on the video and give it some motion and life.  (emphasis added). Rhoades' weak attempt to give life, hence credibility, to this staged video is dead on arrival. This misguided purportedly re-enacted evidence should never have been allowed in the first place. The relevancy of the demonstration is highly questionable because it failed to simulate the actual nature of the events, the conditions in effect at the time of the accident, and the mechanics of the Jackson vehicle. This kind of demonstration would tend to confuse and mislead the jury. According to Jackson, the axle fractured under supposedly normal driving conditions, with the vehicle moving at the rate of 55 to 60 m.p.h., not as in Rhoades' video while the vehicle was at a dead-stop. That presents the major flaw to the Rhoades demonstration. It seemingly never occurred to Rhoades that the wheel was actually traveling 55 to 60 m.p.h. when, according to Rhoades' theory, it broke off of the axle and that its movement would have been affected by the fact it was in motion. Rhoades apparently never heard of Sir Issac Newton and his laws of gravity and motion. Cut an axle in half on a stationary jacked up vehicle and the wheel will simply drop. Newton, Law of Gravity. [3] But, if the vehicle is moving forward at the rate of 55 to 60 m.p.h., some 80 feet per second, if the axle suddenly snaps in two, as Jackson claimed, that wheel is going to roll. Newton, Law of Motion. [4] Newton's laws applied precisely in the General Motors video demonstration of a vehicle travelling 55 to 60 m.p.h., with a sudden breaking of the axle, as Jackson alleged happened to her axle. The loose wheel sped out to the left side of the vehicle and forward some 700 feet distance past the point of breakage of the axle. If a refutation of Rhoades' theory was needed, General Motors' video demonstration duplicating how Jackson claimed the accident occurred, showed precisely that what Rhoades said caused the accident was an utter impossibility. There is no dispute but that the vehicle Jackson was driving was traveling some 55-60 m.p.h. down the highway. That is some 80 feet per second. Now, if what Rhoades said happened after the axle  according to him  just broke, did in truth and in fact really happen, one has to wonder why the plaintiffs did not duplicate it by an experiment conducted under comparable conditions. General Motors by experiment and video demonstration showed what would happen with an axle breaking on a Jimmy traveling at this speed. The answer, of course, is that neither Rhoades nor anyone else could duplicate or demonstrate the plaintiff's contention by a comparable experiment. It would be easier to walk on water than to duplicate what Rhoades said happened by any realistic experiment or comparable demonstration. Rhoades' demonstration of what he says happened would be laughed out of a fifth grade classroom. Also, the Jackson theory according to Rhoades, did not explain the flattened portions of major mechanical components of the vehicle, including eight ball bearings. (See App., Ex. D-27-1-59). This feat of flattening would have required tremendous left side force. The Jacksons cannot explain that which is an impossibility. Under the Jackson version, there would have been insufficient left side force to cause this type of damage to the mechanical parts on the vehicle. If, as the Jacksons maintain, the axle broke while the wheel was rolling 50-60 miles per hour and folded underneath, and the front edge of the leaf spring had punctured the tire when the full weight of the vehicle fell upon it, there would have to have been markings of either rubber from the tire and or a combination of rubber and metal scraping on the pavement, as the vehicle dragged the wheel down the highway. The Jacksons admit there are no such marks in existence in the westbound lane of traffic. (See App., Ex. D-28-5). There are other problems with this staged video too: (1) the video was not made under Rhoades' supervision, but rather was filmed some two years before; (2) the video was not an accurate demonstration of anything which occurred; and (3) the video was not shown to opposing counsel until the night before it was offered to the jury as evidence. The video tape should never have been admitted into evidence as it was not relevant and it had no probative value. General Motors countered the Jacksons' version with a video of a GMC Jimmy vehicle used as a test vehicle actually traveling at 55 miles per hour, with the axle having been previously cut at the flange area. When the test vehicle's left axle fractured at the flange area, where it had been partially cut, the left rear wheel flew out to the left side and continued some 700 plus feet down the roadway from that point. The Jacksons' theory can never alter the laws of physics and motion. The absence of any pavement markings from the accident in the westbound (north) lane conclusively disproves the Jacksons' claim. Rhoades and Cox also testified that the left axle broke at the beginning of the yaw leaving marks in the eastbound (south) lane. Rhoades testified that the axle broke at the beginning of the tire marks. But these marks are well past the Davidson's gravel driveway. (See App., Ex. D-28-1). This would clearly place the Jackson vehicle in the eastbound lane (the improper lane for Linda Jackson), skidding sideways and out of control, with the left front and rear tires making the visible yaw marks, as depicted in the photographs admitted into evidence. (See App., Ex. D-28-5). This would, according to Rhoades, have occurred before the axle broke. Yet, Linda Jackson testified that she initially lost control of her vehicle in the westbound (north) lane when her axle broke and the wheel came off. This situation is impossible for two reasons: (1) Both left wheels, which made the yaw marks, had to be properly attached to the vehicle at that time, as shown in the Baker Traffic Accident Investigation manual, a standard manual used in accident reconstruction, which was admitted into evidence. (See App., Ex. D-26, Ex. D-28-5, and Ex. D-37-16). (2) There are no markings in the westbound (north) lane on the pavement to support this theory that Jackson was in the westbound lane when the axle fractured. The yaw tire marks prove that the axle shaft did not break under normal driving as Linda Jackson claims. All witnesses testified that the vehicle went into the sideways slide in the eastbound (south) lane. The jury had the benefit of the Baker Traffic Accident Investigation Manual in order to compare the yaw marks in photographs of the scene of this accident with known samples of identical markings shown in the manual. (See App., Ex. D-26, Ex. D-37-16). The marks shown by the pictures in evidence in this case are identical to the typical tire marks shown in the manual. The marks shown in the photos are clearly rubber tire marks. The Baker manual clearly shows and states that the left front wheel would leave the visible skid mark on the right side of the photo and the left rear wheel would leave the darker skid mark visible on the left side of the photo. An examination of the Baker Manual reveals that Exhibit 55 in the manual is virtually identical to Exhibit D-37-16 in the case sub judice. The notation under Exhibit 55 in the Baker Manual states: If the striations in a tire mark are oblique to the tire mark, the wheel is rotating. Then the mark is a yaw mark and the tire is sideslipping. (App., D-26, p. 17-23). Consequently, we know without a doubt that the left rear wheel on the Jackson vehicle was properly attached to the vehicle and was rotating when the yaw marks were made in the eastbound (south) lane. The two very visible black yaw marks, depicted in the photographs in evidence, prove the axle was intact during the skid, and that the left rear axle and wheel had to be properly attached on the vehicle to make the two tire marks on the pavement. According to the Jacksons' version, the wheel folded underneath the vehicle. Any markings on the pavement under that sort of theory would certainly not resemble the markings clearly visible as tire yaw marks in the photographs. According to the Jacksons' version, there should be marks of a flattened tire on a wheel rim dragged upon the pavement, due to the weight of the vehicle upon it. No such marks exist, because the accident could not possibly have occurred in such a manner.