Opinion ID: 1273783
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Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The use of the emergency instruction

Text: The trial court instructed the jury that the driver of the car was entitled to a consideration of the emergency doctrine which holds that an actor who is confronted with an emergency is not to be held to the standard of conduct normally applied to one who is in no such situation. The rationale of this rule is simply that a person may be confronted with an emergency which is not of his own making and the standard to be applied, although still that of the theoretical reasonable person, is that of a reasonable person in an emergency. See, Urban v. Minneapolis Street Ry. Co., 256 Minn. 1, 96 N.W.2d 698 (1959); Zickrick v. Strathern, 211 Minn. 329, 1 N.W.2d 134 (1941). The standard of reflection cannot be asked when reflection cannot be taken. See, Minder v. Peterson, 254 Minn. 82, 89, 93 N.W.2d 699, 705 (1958). Thus, in an emergency a choice may be mistaken and yet prudent. Kane v. Worcester Consol. Street Ry. Co., 182 Mass. 201, 202, 65 N.E. 54 (1902). The standard phrasing of the emergency rule is found in Restatement, Torts 2d, § 296: (1) In determining whether conduct is negligent toward another, the fact that the actor is confronted with a sudden emergency which requires rapid decision is a factor in determining the reasonable character of his choice of action. (2) The fact that the actor is not negligent after the emergency has arisen does not preclude his liability for his tortious conduct which has produced the emergency. [1] Fundamental to the application of this rule, however, is the finding that the emergency in which the conduct has its genesis is not of the actor's own making. [2] The comments to Restatement, Torts 2d, § 296, make this qualification strikingly clear:  a. The rule stated in Subsection (1) of this Section is applicable where the sudden emergency is created in any way other than by the actor's own tortious conduct, as where it is created by the unexpected operation of a natural force or by the innocent or wrongful act of a third person. The fact that the emergency is created by the actor's own conduct does not prevent the rule from being applicable if his conduct is not tortious.        d. Prior tortious conduct. Where the emergency itself has been created by the actor's own negligence or other tortious conduct, the fact that he has then behaved in a manner entirely reasonable in the light of the situation with which he is confronted does not insulate his liability for his prior conduct. Such liability is not precluded by the fact that he has acted reasonably in the crisis which he has himself brought about. It is not his reasonable conduct in the emergency which makes him liable, but his prior tortious conduct creating the emergency. (Italics supplied in part.) Thus, it is proper to give the instruction on emergency instances where a driver, traveling on a through high-speed highway, was suddenly confronted with a vehicle unlawfully crossing the highway from the driver's left ( Zickrick v. Strathern, 211 Minn. 329, 1 N.W.2d 134 [1941]); where a truck driver suddenly finds his brakes malfunctioning through no fault of his own ( Trudeau v. Sina Contracting Co., Inc., 241 Minn. 79, 62 N.W.2d 492 [1954]); or where a driver while driving on the highway at night suddenly comes upon an unlighted hayrack drawn by a team of horses ( Vasatka v. Matsch, 216 Minn. 530, 13 N.W.2d 483 [1944]). However, where the negligence of the party seeking to invoke the instruction contributed to the emergency, the instruction should not be given, such as where a driver is met with an emergency because he is driving at too high a speed on an icy highway ( Ind v. Bailey, 198 Minn. 217, 269 N.W. 638 [1936]); or where a driver attempts to pass another car by driving on the shoulder of the road and must take sudden action because the shoulder is not as firm as he expected ( Zobel v. Boutelle, 184 Minn. 172, 238 N.W. 49 [1931]). The driver of the car here was presented with an emergency of her own making. No claim is made that the operation of the car once the brakes were applied was improper. The claim here is that the operation of the vehicle prior to the accident was negligent because of lack of vigilance in spotting the children and in the failure to reduce speed once their presence (and, it must be assumed, their predilections) were known. Even viewing the facts most favorably to the driver, we must accept that the jury found her negligent. The sole source of that negligence could only have been improper lookout and speed. Thus, the emergency was not, as the rule requires, the result of the actions of a third party. A second limitation on the emergency doctrine is simply that there are some emergencies which must be anticipated. The ordinary, customary, and expected movements of traffic upon public highways cannot be regarded as so perilous as to require that the emergency rule be applied in judging the reasonableness of the actions of drivers meeting such traffic, Alex v. Jozelich, 248 Minn. 27, 34, 78 N.W.2d 440, 445 (1956). See, e. g., Seitzer v. Halverson, 231 Minn. 230, 42 N.W.2d 635 (1950) (child-pedestrian using crosswalk). Most importantly, drivers must anticipate the actions of children standing on the curb. Prosser states this general qualification in the following language: A further qualification which must be made is that some `emergencies' must be anticipated, and the actor must be prepared to meet them when he engages in an activity in which they are likely to arise. Thus under present day traffic conditions, any driver of an automobile must be prepared for the sudden appearance of obstacles in the highway, or of other vehicles at intersections, just as one who sees a child on the curb may be required to anticipate its sudden dash into the street, and his failure to act properly when they appear may be found to amount to negligence. (Italics supplied.) Prosser, Torts (4 ed.), § 33, p. 170. The case of Kachman v. Blosberg, 251 Minn. 224, 87 N.W.2d 687 (1958), is one of the cases cited by Prosser for this principle. In Kachman, this court was presented with a set of facts virtually identical to those before us now and stated (251 Minn. 232, 87 N.W.2d 694):    This court has expressed the view ( Carlson v. Sanitary Farm Dairies, Inc. supra [ Carlson v. Sanitary Farm Dairies, Inc., 200 Minn. 177, 273 N.W. 665]) that, where children are known or may reasonably be expected to be in the vicinity, a degree of vigilance commensurate with the greater hazard created by their presence or probable presence is required of a driver to measure up to the standard of what the law regards as ordinary care. It is but a restatement of the rule that ordinary care is the exercise of a degree of care commensurate with the circumstances. That an automobile driver can run down a child in plain sight of him without liability is not the law in this state. Mr. Justice Stone speaking for the court in Weasler v. Murphy Transfer & Storage Co., 167 Minn. 211, 213, 208 N.W. 657, 658, said: `If there is one cause which, more than any other, should lead to the exercise of a high degree of care by an automobile driver, it is the presence of children in such a situation that any combination of action on their part and his can result in injury to them.' One of the elements of the issue of defendant's negligence in this unfortunate accident is whether or not defendant was guilty of negligence in approaching so near to Terresa before applying his brakes that it was impossible for him to control his car and avoid a collision. He had seen the children ahead of him, on the edge of the highway, for a distance of at least 300 feet. He must have observed that they were children. It was a fact question whether or not under the circumstances defendant was guilty of negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout and to have his car under sufficient control to avoid a collision which he could foresee the movement of the children might precipitate. The presence of Terresa upon the highway called for greater caution from defendant than if she had been an adult. Any careful driver will always regard the presence of a child in the street as a warning. The impulsiveness of childhood and youth is known to everyone; that they may be moved by sudden change of mind or act pursuant to a peculiar design wholly unexpected by others should be familiar to every driver of an automobile. As was said in Olesen v. Noren, 161 Minn. 113, 115, 201 N.W. 296: `   They are innocent, sometimes bent on innocent mischief, free from care, and at times unconscious of impending dangers. These peculiarities of childhood are common and if unappreciated by automobile drivers, who use our streets, they will be duly appreciated by the persons who sit in the jury box.' (Italics supplied.) Thus an impulsive act on the part of a child standing beside a road is not so exceptional that a reasonable driver would not prepare for it. This is not a case for the application of the emergency rule for the reason stated in Kachman (251 Minn. 235, 87 N.W.2d 695):    We have said that the sudden-emergency rule is inapplicable unless it be first determined that there existed a real peril, to which the party seeking its protection did not contribute by his own want of care, and that the rule cannot be successfully invoked by a party who has brought the emergency upon himself or who has failed in the application of due care to avoid it. Therefore any act, or failure to act, amounting to a lack of due care defeats the right to claim the benefit of the emergency rule.    It seems obvious to us that the defendant brought on the emergency by driving at the speed he did after he had observed the children on the edge of the highway and by failing to keep a proper lookout and make a timely application of his brakes in order to sooner bring his car under control. As the evidence stands defendant did choose the best and safest way in his attempt to avoid colliding with Terresa upon the highway and would undoubtedly have succeeded except for the speed he was traveling when he first made an application of his brakes. He took his foot off the accelerator when he saw the children on the edge of the highway 300 feet up ahead. In doing so he must have anticipated some movement by the children. He did not apply his brakes to slow up his speed of 45 to 47 miles per hour until some 60 feet from Terresa. Had he been going more slowly he would have avoided the accident. He operated a skidding car for a distance of 62 feet because of his speed. Bakken v. Lewis, 223 Minn. 329, 26 N.W.2d 478; Hutzler v. McDonnell, 239 Wis. 568, 2 N.W.2d 207; 13 Dunnell, Dig. (3 ed.) § 6972a. Upon the evidence we see no basis for an application of the sudden-emergency doctrine. We think it obvious that, if defendant had kept a proper lookout and made timely application of his brakes in reduction of his speed, he would not have found himself overtaken by the emergency of which he now complains.