Opinion ID: 1315846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Moran v. Atha Trucking

Text: The facts in the Moran case are as follows. [1] Shortly before midnight on February 11, 1994, appellant Ray Moran left the coal mine where he worked in Harrison County, West Virginia and was driving home on the two lane highway that provides access to the mine. Driving conditions that night were treacherous due to a freezing rain that made the road extremely slippery. Moran had not traveled far when he looked ahead and saw what he perceived to be two stationary coal trucks, parked side by side, each blocking its respective lane of travel. Moran was apparently about 300 feet from the coal trucks when he first saw them. [2] The coal truck in Moran's lane of travel was owned by appellee E. & S. Trucking Company and operated by appellee Chuck Kirkpatrick. The truck in the other lane, facing Moran, was owned by appellee Atha Trucking, Inc. and operated by appellee James A. Fornash. Whether and to what degree these two coal trucks were blocking the roadway were in dispute at trial. [3] Moran testified that upon seeing the trucks blocking the roadway he panicked and attempted to decrease the speed of his vehicle by applying the brakes and shifting the automatic transmission of his front-wheel drive automobile into a lower gear. This resulted in Moran's vehicle sliding uncontrollably down the roadway, crossing the center line, and colliding into the stationary Atha truck. As a result of this collision, Moran and his wife filed a personal injury action against the appellees. Following a three day jury trial, the jury assessed Moran with one hundred percent of the fault. The appellants moved for a new trial asserting that they were prejudiced by the circuit court's failure to instruct the jury on the sudden emergency doctrine. By order of September 13, 1996, the circuit court denied the appellants' motion. The sole assignment of error presented to this Court is that the circuit court erred in refusing to instruct the jury concerning the doctrine of sudden emergency. B.