Opinion ID: 1191687
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sudden Emergency Instruction Disapproved

Text: Although any possible error resulting from the use of the sudden emergency instruction was rendered harmless by the jury finding that Jette's negligence was not a legal cause of the accident, we take this opportunity to disapprove of the instruction's further use. It adds nothing to the established law that the duty of care, which all must exercise, is to act reasonably under the circumstances. The instruction is potentially confusing. Although we cannot say that the instruction is never appropriate, we discourage its employment. In support of this admonition, we offer the following background. The sudden emergency doctrine arose as a method of ameliorating the, sometimes harsh, all or nothing rule in contributory negligence systems. For example, in Stokes v. Saltonstall, 38 U.S. 181, 13 Pet. 181, 10 L.Ed. 115 (1839), the United States Supreme Court approved the use of an early version of the sudden emergency instruction. Id. at 193. In that case, the plaintiff and his wife were injured while leaping from a careening coach piloted by a drunken driver. Id. at 182. The defendant claimed contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiffs which would have barred all recovery. Id. at 187-88. The court endorsed the doctrine wholeheartedly, stating: [T]o enable the plaintiff to sustain the action it is not necessary that he should have been thrown off the coach; it is sufficient if he were placed by the misconduct of the defendant, in such a situation as obliged him to adopt the alternative of a dangerous leap, or to remain at certain peril; if that position was occasioned by the fault of the defendant, the action may be supported. On the other hand, if the plaintiff's act resulted from a rash apprehension of danger, which did not exist, and the injury which he sustained is to be attributed to rashness and imprudence, he is not entitled to recover. Id. at 193. Although the doctrine came out of the contributory negligence regime, there is nothing about it which is inherently incompatible with a comparative fault system. Comparative negligence is a method of apportioning liability for a particular accident among the various parties who have been deemed negligent. The sudden emergency doctrine, in turn, is an expression of the applicable standard of care against which particular actions are judged in order to determine whether they were negligent in character. The fault of one person, determined in the light of a sudden emergency instruction, can be compared to the fault of another person, whose negligence may have created the emergency, with no logical inconsistency. Other courts have rejected the contention that the instruction cannot be used in a jurisdiction which has adopted a system of comparative negligence. Young v. Clark, 814 P.2d 364, 368 (Colo. 1991); Weiss v. Bal, 501 N.W.2d 478, 481 (Iowa 1993) ([W]e reject plaintiffs' argument that such an instruction has no place in a comparative fault scheme.); Ebach v. Ralston, 510 N.W.2d 604, 610 (N.D. 1994). Although not inherently inconsistent with modern methods of apportioning liability, the sudden emergency instruction has, nevertheless, come under criticism, and some states have limited or abolished it. Reasoning that because the standard of care is expressed in terms of a reasonable person under the circumstances, several courts have concluded that the instruction is wholly redundant. Mississippi eliminated the instruction in Knapp v. Stanford, 392 So.2d 196 (Miss. 1980), because the court believed the instruction only served to obfuscate the operation of the comparative negligence statute, and was often interpreted as requiring a higher standard of proof for a finding of negligence. Id. at 198. The justices ruled that the wiser policy would be to apply the general rules of negligence to all situations, and the jury should be left to consider only what a reasonable person would have done under the circumstances of a given case. Id. at 199. Likewise, Nebraska's highest court found that the instruction served no useful purpose. In McClymont v. Morgan, 238 Neb. 390, 470 N.W.2d 768 (1991), the trial court refused to give the plaintiff's proposed instruction on the effect of an emergency. The supreme court affirmed, stating that the sudden emergency instruction gives undue emphasis to one aspect of the standard of care, and to one party's argument. Id. 470 N.W.2d at 770. The effect of the emergency on the standard of care might still be argued to the jury. Id. Other courts, while not banning the instruction altogether, have strongly discouraged its use. Ellwood v. Peters, 182 So.2d 281 (Fla.App.), cert. denied, 188 So.2d 814 (Fla. 1966); DiCenzo v. Izawa, 68 Haw. 528, 723 P.2d 171 (1986); Keel v. Compton, 120 Ill. App.2d 248, 256 N.E.2d 848 (1970); Gagnon v. Crane, 126 N.H. 781, 498 A.2d 718 (1985); McKee v. Evans, 380 Pa.Super. 120, 551 A.2d 260, app. denied, 522 Pa. 600, 562 A.2d 824 (1988). Several courts have forbidden giving the instruction in automobile accident cases. Montana's supreme court, in Simonson v. White, 220 Mont. 14, 713 P.2d 983 (1986), found no reason to give the sudden emergency instruction in an automobile accident case stating that the instruction adds nothing to the applicable law in any negligence case, that a driver must exercise due care under the circumstances, and that it tends to leave jurors with the impression that an emergency somehow excuses the driver from the ordinary standard of care. Id. 713 P.2d at 989. An Oregon court has also expressed reservations about the use of the instruction in automobile cases. Templeton v. Smith, 88 Or. App. 266, 744 P.2d 1325 (1987), review denied, 305 Or. 45, 749 P.2d 1182 (1988). [4] In Finley v. Wiley, 103 N.J. Super. 95, 246 A.2d 715 (App.Div. 1968), a New Jersey court stated it entertain[ed] grave doubt as to whether a sudden emergency charge should ever be given in an ordinary automobile accident case. Id. 246 A.2d at 719. The Finley court felt that the unexpected hazards of driving are, in fact, to be expected. Id. Quoting Prosser, Torts, pp. 172-73 (3d ed. 1964) it said, [U]nder present day traffic conditions, any driver of an automobile must be prepared for the sudden appearance of obstacles in the street.... See also Paiva v. Pfeiffer, 229 N.J. Super. 276, 551 A.2d 201, 204-05 (App.Div. 1988). We believe that the sudden emergency instruction is a generally useless appendage to the law of negligence. With or without an emergency, the standard of care a person must exercise is still that of a reasonable person under the circumstances. With or without the instruction, parties are still entitled to present evidence at trial which will establish what the circumstances were, and are also entitled to argue to the jury that they acted as a reasonable person would have in light of those circumstances. Thus, barring circumstances that we cannot at the moment hypothesize, a sudden emergency instruction serves no positive function. Further, the instruction may cause confusion by appearing to imply that one party is less blameworthy than the other. Therefore, we hold that it should not be used unless a court finds that the particular and peculiar facts of a case warrant more explanation of the standard of care than is generally required.