Court Opinion

ID: 9664801
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 00:30:07.591681+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:10.275327
License: Public Domain

WELLIVER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
Our jurisdiction to transfer this case from the court of appeals is set forth in Mo. Const. art. V, § 10.
Cases pending in the court of appeals shall be transferred to the supreme court ... because of the general interest or importance of a question involved in the case, or for the purpose of reexamining the law, or pursuant to supreme court rule.
Rule 83.03 provides:
In any case in which a motion for rehearing has been overruled and an application for transfer under Rule 83.02 has been denied, the case may be transferred by order of this court on application of a party for any of the reasons specified in Rule 83.02, or for the reason that the opinion filed is contrary to a previous decision of an appellate court of this state.
The reasons for transfer specified in Rule 83.02 are: “because of the general interest or importance of a question involved in the case, or for the purpose of reexamining the existing law.”
In neither the Court of Appeals, Eastern District opinion nor in the principal opinion does there appear grounds for transfer of this case as specified in the Constitution and our Rules. This is but another of this Court’s transfers for the sole purpose of changing the result. The result reached by the principal opinion with reference to this “cannibalized” roller with hardly a identifiable part remaining cannot do other than mark Missouri as the favorite state in which to file lawsuits and the state to be most avoided by those who would manufacture durable goods.
I adopt the opinion of the Eastern District Court of Appeals as my dissenting opinion. The opinion authored by James A. Pudlowski, Presiding Judge, and concurred in by Crandall, Jr., J. and Karohl, J., follows verbatim.
“Respondent Terrence J. Fahy obtained a judgment in a jury tried case in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis against Dresser Industries, Inc. (Dresser), in a products liability action.1 On appeal, Dresser contends that the trial court erred: (1) in submitting the case to the jury because there was no evidence the alleged *647defect caused respondent’s injuries, in that there was no evidence the product was in substantially the same condition at the time of the accident (1979) as it was when sold by Dresser (1950), and in that there was no evidence the product was being used in a reasonably anticipated manner at the time of the accident; (2) by not declaring a mistrial after the reception of inadmissible testimony; (3) by not declaring a mistrial after allegedly improper closing argument by respondent; (4) by refusing to allow appellant to read certain of respondent’s abandoned pleadings; (5) in allowing testimony which lacked foundation by an expert witness; (6) by not granting a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence; and (7) by not granting a new trial based on an excessive verdict, or in the alternative, by not reducing respondent’s award by the amount of the settlement between respondent and dismissed co-defendants Teledyne Wisconsin Motor and Allied Construction Equipment Company. We reverse because we find that appellant failed to make a submissible case on the element of causation. As a result, we do not address the remaining issues.2
I.
“The evidence revealed that in 1950, Gal-ion Iron Works and Manufacturing Co., later acquired by Dresser, produced an asphalt roller. Defendant Dresser stands in the position of original manufacturer. Years later, respondent’s employer, County Asphalt, acquired it. While in the possession of County Asphalt, the used roller underwent numerous changes. The evidence revealed that the operator’s seat and guard rail were removed and a tool box substituted for the operator’s seat; the original engine had been replaced with a more powerful engine, which resulted in the control panels being moved from in front of the operator to the exterior right side of the machine; the operator’s steel platform floor had been cut away, exposing the back roller; the automatic roller cleaning system was not working, which required the operator to perform pedal or manual roller cleaning either with the operator’s foot on the roller while the roller was moving or with his hand while positioned on the ground; and, the emergency brake once broken had not been repaired.
“On August 23,1979 respondent was the operator of this cannibalized roller. His principal duty that day was to compress previously spread pea gravel onto hot oil with the roller. Depositional testimony by plaintiff’s witness, Scott Thoele, respondent’s co-worker, indicated that five minutes before the accident he saw respondent cleaning the roller and the last time he saw the respondent was a minute or two before the accident, running the roller up and down the straightway. He further testified that respondent was standing while operating the roller. The depositional testimony of plaintiff’s witness, Kent Thoele, another co-worker was that the last time he saw the respondent was not more than a minute before the accident and Fahy was down on the ground cleaning the roller wheels and the engine was not running. No one saw the accident actually occur, nor does the plaintiff recall how it happened. Rather the various witnesses testified as to seeing plaintiff lying injured on the roadway, the roller proceeding away from the plaintiff at a speed of three to five miles per hour approximately 150 feet toward a grassy area. Two men chased after the roller. One of them caught up to it and ‘hit the kill switch’ which stopped the roller in a ‘couple of feet.’ The plaintiff was severely injured.
“At trial, the plaintiff presented Boulter Kelsey the ubiquitous expert witness. Plaintiff presented a very lengthy hypothetical question to Kelsey to prove product defect(s) and causation of the injury. The pertinent inquiry for this opinion follows:
(Attorney for Plaintiff): Assume, ... that the last men to see Mr. Fahy (plaintiff) ... testified that the roller’s engine was off and that the operator has to put *648the roller in gear for the roller to move; ... that the roller wouldn’t run over the operator if the operator had started it from the ground inadvertently leaving the roller in gear with the direction level engaged; ... that the roll [sic] control panel was on the right side of the roller if the operator were in the operating position facing the power roll [sic] and this machine was manufactured, designed, and sold in such a way in the event the operator left the operating position it would continue to roll under its own power without any human agency; ... the last time [Scott Thoele] saw [Fahy] before he was discovered on the ground, Scott Thoele saw him on the roller; ... when [the engine] was shut off [the roller] came to a stop in a couple of feet; ... the roller [was] traveling ... at approximately a walking speed, or some two miles per hour.... Assume further that the roller was not designed with an emergency control device that would effectuate its cessation in the event the operator left the operating position.
(Attorney for plaintiff): Let me ask you the following questions, if I may. Do you have an opinion, first, within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, as to whether or not the roller I’ve described in this incident is defective and unreasonably dangerous for its intended use?
(Attorney for Defendant): Before he answers, Your Honor, in addition to the same objection I made previously, I would also like to point out that in my opinion Mr. Dowd has assumed facts that are either not in evidence or that he has mischaracterized facts that are into evidence.
Further, he has omitted facts that are in evidence. For example, he has omitted in his hypothetical question that the plaintiff was seen one minute prior to the accident on the ground cleaning the roller. That fact, along with other facts is omitted, and I feel that makes the question improper.
“The court took the objection under advisement as he did to previous objections made in limine and after plaintiff's attorney asked for another opinion of the expert, the court asked plaintiff’s attorney to restate the question. Plaintiff’s attorney again posed this question, “Whether or not he had an opinion, within reasonable degree of scientific certainty, whether or not this machine was defective and unreasonably dangerous as designed and manufactured?”
“The witness replied that “the machine is defective in design ... because it does not have a control which will stop the machine in case the operator leaves the operating position. That is the defect in this machine.” He continued, after objection, that “the defect was a direct cause of the incident ... because given all the facts that we have about the accident, had the roll [sic] stopped when Mr. Fahy left the operating position, it would not have rolled over him.”
“The expert witness stated: “[T]he machine was unsafe since the control system did not incorporate a deadman control such that the machine would be stopped if the operator, for whatever reason, was incapable of being present on the machine.” Kelsey explained the workings of various deadman systems. One system was a foot treadle that the operator would be required to hold down in order to run the machine. Once the operator’s foot left the position, the treadle would spring upward and disengage the drive and/or apply the brake. The witness stated that the same deadman concept could be applied to the operator’s seat. Further, he discussed a spring loaded directional lever control which would require the operator to grasp the control so that when the operator let go, the lever would spring back into neutral and deprive the roller of its power. The witness did not say whether this would also engage the brake nor did he opine an estimate as to the distance it would take to stop the roller after the mechanism was activated.
“Plaintiff’s expert witness went on to provide an extended detailed accident reconstruction testimony. Dresser requested an order in limine, prior to the expert’s taking the stand, to prevent Kelsey’s recon*649struction testimony because it would be based on speculation and conjecture. The trial court stated that he was going to permit the testimony but “since he did not know what Kelsey was going to say,” he told Dresser’s counsel, “if you are correct ... and if at some point in time I sustain the motion, one of two things is going to occur. Either, (a) mistrial or (b) the case is over,” — a directed verdict. Dresser renewed its objection at the close of plaintiff’s case. The trial court sustained Dresser’s objection at the close of the entire case, but contrary to its previous declaration, neither declared a mistrial or granted a directed verdict. Rather, the court instructed the jury to “disregard the witness’s testimony as to how the accident occurred and any opinions based on that as there was no evidence to support the reconstruction testimony.” It permitted the expert’s testimony as to the defect and the unreasonably dangerousness of the product to stand.3
II.
“Before addressing the substantive legal issues, we must consider the contention of the plaintiff that Dresser failed to file a motion for a directed verdict at the close of all the evidence, and therefore these issues have not be preserved for review. Plaintiff contends that since Dresser submitted and argued such a motion before the close of all the evidence it was ineffective to preserve review.
“On the morning of the last day of trial, after conference where instructions were prepared and the motions for a directed verdict argued in camera, the trial court called for the jury and allowed brief rebuttal evidence by plaintiff. This was done as a matter of accommodation and judicial efficiency to which plaintiff’s attorney did not object. Hypertechnically, plaintiff is correct, but we see no prejudice in the judge’s decision not to first call the rebuttal witness for plaintiff, and then waste the jury’s time by breaking for a lengthy instructional and motion conference.4 The purpose of requiring the motion is to afford the trial court the opportunity to rule on the issues at that stage of the proceedings. That was done and the issue of submissibility was not waived. We deny respondent’s motion to dismiss.
III.
“Where failure to grant a directed verdict for Dresser is the error asserted, we must determine whether or not plaintiff presented substantial evidence at trial supporting his theory of recovery. In reaching this determination, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent, giving him the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and disregarding the appellant’s evidence except as it aids the respondent’s case. Strebler v. Rixman, 616 S.W.2d 876, 877 (Mo.App.1981).
"Missouri has adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 402A (1976) as its standard of liability in products liability cases. Keener v. Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co., 445 S.W.2d 362, 364 (Mo.1969). One essential element that the respondent must prove in a products liability case is that the defect in the product was the proximate cause of injuries sustained by plaintiff while he was using the product in a reasonably anticipated manner. Garrett v. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co., 631 S.W.2d 652, 654 (Mo.App.1982). M.A.I. 25.04 (1978). As Judge Billings said in Nesselrode, “although obviously abbreviated, the foregoing explanation describes the heart and soul of a strict tort liability design defect case — unreasonable danger and causation.” Nesselrode v. Executive Beechcraft, Inc., 707 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1986).5 The *650dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the plaintiffs evidence proved that the alleged defect caused the injury. We believe that in two regards, it did not.
A
“Plaintiffs evidence revealed that the last witness to see the respondent was “less than a minute before the incident and at that time plaintiff was on the ground cleaning the roller wheel and the engine was off.” No one saw the accident and plaintiff cannot and did not explain how the accident occurred. The trial court struck the expert witness’s reconstruction testimony. So we must look solely to expert’s testimony to determine if there was substantial proof the defect caused the injury. For that endeavor we look closely at his testimony and specifically at the question and reply to plaintiff’s attorney’s hypothetical question.
“The facts upon which an expert’s opinion is based, like the facts sufficient to support a verdict, must measure up to the legal requirements of substantiality and probative force and the question whether such opinion is based on and supported by sufficient facts or evidence to sustain the same is a question of law for the court. Craddock v. Greenberg Mercantile, 297 S.W.2d 541, 548 (Mo.1957). Mr. Kelsey’s opinion does not measure up to these standards. Of course, an expert’s opinion is in the nature of a conclusion of fact, but it must have a substantial basis in the facts actually established. We therefore meticulously review the expert answers and the hypothetical.
“Mr. Kelsey was asked to assume that the plaintiff was last seen on (emphasis added) the roller and the roller engine was off, that no one actually had seen the incident and that the plaintiff’s body was lying face down and severely injured. He then was asked whether he had an opinion within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty of whether or not this machine was defective and unreasonably dangerous as designed and manufactured. His answer: “In my opinion the machine is defective in design.” “Why do you have that opinion?” His answer: “because it does not have a control which will stop the machine in case the operator leaves the operating position. That is the defect in this machine.” In reply the plaintiff’s attorney asked, will the machine “continue to operate without the operator in the operating position?” His answer “that’s correct.” Later, he said: I believe that “The defect was the direct cause of this incident.”
“These conclusions were entirely too tenuous. They were not supported by plaintiff’s own evidence and are either speculative or immaterial. The evidence clearly indicates that the plaintiff was last seen on the ground prior to the accident with the engine off. There was no evidence that plaintiff left his operating position.
“Respondent contends that Scott Thoele testified that he saw plaintiff on the roller and operating the machine one to two minutes before the accident and we should ignore his brother Kent’s testimony that the plaintiff was on the ground and the engine was not running. If we were to do that then we must also recognize that when Scott saw plaintiff, he testified the “plaintiff was standing and operating the roller.” Plaintiff is not bound by the testimony of any one of his witnesses, if such testimony is contradicted, but they are bound by the uncontradictqd testimony of their witnesses. DeLay v. Ward, 262 S.W.2d 628, 633 (Mo. banc 1953). Stark v. American Bakeries Co., 647 S.W.2d 119, 121 (Mo. banc 1983).
“These facts are crucial to the answer of plaintiff’s expert to the question of how this accident happened and why the defect caused the injury. He replied “Mr. Fahy (plaintiff), according to the witnesses, had finished cleaning the roll at sometime prior to the accident and had climbed up onto the rolling machine to start it, to move it, because had he started it on the ground he would not have been run over. In other words, if he’d been down on the side of the machine and started it and the machine had *651been in gear, it would not have run over his body.” He reiterated that “it’s my belief he was on top of the roller when the accident scenario began.” (Emphasis added).
“We repeat, there was absolutely no evidence that the plaintiff was on top of the roller just prior to the incident which was the keystone to the expert’s conclusion and the gravamen of the plaintiff’s claim.
“This unwarranted assumption was not supported by the evidence. However, it was the basis of the gravamen of plaintiff’s claim. Without it, the expert’s conclusions are not sufficient. We realize that from the evidence many scenarios could be theorized which could be assumed by inferences, guesswork and surmise. When the cause of an injury is left to speculation and conjecture and when sound reasoning does not point to the liability of the defendant there may be no recovery.6
B.
“Our holding above alone is sufficient grounds to reverse. However, there is a second, independent ground for reversal which we will address in reply to plaintiff’s contentions. There is no evidence to support “but for” causation. We cannot infer that had Dresser installed a deadman switch, a device that causes the machine to come to a stop when the operator leaves a safe position, that plaintiff’s injuries still would not have occurred. This is because we have positively no evidence of how or where plaintiff came into contact with the roller and whether any deadman switch would have served to bring the machine to a halt before it ran over plaintiff.7
“Plaintiff vigorously disagrees. First, he contends that it is not his burden to prove that the roller could have been rendered safer than it was. To support his position, he cites Elmore v. Owen-Illinois, Inc., 673 S.W.2d 434 (Mo. banc 1984). Specifically, he refers to this passage:
Thus, plaintiffs established that Kay-lor was “defective” when they proved that it was unreasonably dangerous as designed; they were not required to show additionally that the manufacturer or designer was “at fault,” as that concept is employed in the negligence context.
Id. at 438.
“Plaintiff mischaracterizes the import of Elmore. Elmore held that “state of the art” evidence has no bearing on the outcome of a strict liability claim; Id. at 438. In Elmore, the defendant had argued that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of defect since it could be shown *652that, at the time of manufacture, defendant could not have known of the product’s unreasonable danger. Id. at 437. Dresser does not argue here that it could not have known of the harm the Gabon roller could cause when it was made in 1950 and therefore state of the art, as applied to the issues of this case, is irrelevant. The issue is causation.
“Plaintiff then asserts that he did adduce sufficient evidence for the jury to infer that the deadman switch would have prevented the accident. First, he says that the witness who ran after the machine, which was traveling three to five miles an hour, testified that when he turned it off, it stopped in a couple of feet.8 While plaintiff believes that that evidence in and of itself was sufficient, he ignores the key fact that there is no evidence that respondent’s body was more than “a couple of feet” away from the roller wheel or when a deadman switch, if present would be triggered. Certainly had the evidence indicated respondent had been a good distance away, a jury could infer that “a couple of feet” stopping distance was sufficient to establish causation. But, here, the jury could only speculate where and how respondent came into contact with the roller. When the roller began operating without the operator in the operating position was he far enough away so that, had there been a deadman’s mechanism it would have stopped the roller in time? Or was he so close to the roller that a deadman’s mechanism would not have stopped the roller soon enough to save him? In fact, was his position such that an emergency stopping device would have resulted in the roller coming to a stop upon the respondent? The evidence does not permit a finding of fact on these questions.
“Respondent’s second bit of evidence is the testimony previously stated of his expert who, in response to counsel’s question opined:
Q. Do you have an opinion within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty whether that defect you just described and that defect of the unreasonably dangerous design of this machine was causally connected with the plaintiff being run over by the roller?
MR. PERRYMAN: Same objection.
MR. BECKEMEIER: We join.
THE COURT: Very well. It’s overruled. You may answer.
THE WITNESS: Yes, I believe that the defect was the direct cause of this incident.
Q. (By Mr. Dowd) Why is that?
A. Because, given all the facts that we have about the accident, had the roll [sic] stopped when Mr. Fahy left the operating position, it would not have rolled over him.
“His answer is predicated on “all the facts that we have about the accident” and that “Mr. Fahy left the operating position.” His predicament is that he did not have “all the facts” nor have any evidence when or if he left the operating position. “An. expert’s opinion as to the cause of damage must be a conclusion of fact and must have a substantial basis in the facts actually established by the evidence.” Garrett, 631 S.W.2d at 655. Once the expert’s reconstruction testimony was stricken, all that remained is evidence the roller can be stopped in a couple of feet and an injured plaintiff, who if he fell at all, fell either within or outside the stopping distance.
“Respondent calls our attention to Uder v. Missouri Farmers Association, Inc., 668 S.W.2d 82 (Mo.App.1983). While that case involved expert testimony and circumstantial evidence to allow the jury to infer defect and causation, the case is distin*653guishable since, unlike here, there was substantial evidence to support the inferences. There, the deceased was found entangled in the plastic shield of the power take off of a fertilizer spreader. The expert based his conclusion on the examination of parts of the equipment and the twisting damage of the shield.9
“Plaintiff’s reliance on McClanahan v. Deere & Co., 648 S.W.2d 222 (Mo.App.1983) is also misplaced. Even though there were no eye witnesses to the accident, there was substantial evidence for the jury to infer that a “hair-line crack” in the switch on a combine header caused the accident. In McClanahan there was evidence by an expert witness and a lay person who testified to the hair-line crack and the reaction of the combine header when the switch was bumped. Our brethren in the Southern District concluded that there was sufficient evidence to show causation.
“Plaintiff also cites us to McGowne v. Challenge-Cook Bros., Inc., 672 F.2d 652 (8th Cir.1982) for the proposition that an unwitnessed fall is properly submittable as to defect and causation. McGowne, however, is distinguishable as it was tried as a failure to warn and not a design defect case. Id. at 658. As the Eighth Circuit concluded “it could reasonably be inferred from the evidence that in the absence of a warning a worker could fall into the charging hopper and be injured.” Id. at 662. (Emphasis provided). Here again, although this is a failure to warn case, the court concluded there was sufficient evidence to support an inference for the jury that the manufacturer failed to warn.
“Plaintiff next brings to our attention the recent case of Klein v. General Electric Company, 714 S.W.2d 896 (Mo.App.1986) where this court said “[t]he testimony of an expert that a defect in a product was the probable cause of an incident may constitute substantial evidence. Id. at 900. We strongly agree. The distinction, between the case sub judice and Klein, however, is that, in Klein, the expert testified that a safety device, which detects the temperature of a coffeemaker and shuts off the flow of electricity when the temperature reaches an unsafe level, did not work properly. He further testified that failure to stop the flow of electricity can overheat the coffeemaker and ignite it and the adjacent flammable materials. Id. at 901. It is reasonable for a jury to infer that this mechanical failure of the safety device to detect and stop the flow of electricity caused the fire. This is unlike this asphalt roller, where we have no evidence for the jury to infer that a safety device could have disengaged the power drive and overcome the inertial forces to stop the movement of the roller and not cause the injury. Further, it must be noted that the expert in Klein based his testimony on, among others, two vital laboratory experiments. As a result of the tests the expert testimony in Klein was based on facts which constituted substantial evidence. Here, there were no experiments save the results of an experiment on another roller, not introduced into evidence by Fahy, which indicated stopping distance of five to ten feet. In fact, as the Klein court taught, expert testimony is not always substantial evidence, but rather, it “may constitute substantial evidence.”
“The issue is further complicated by the alterations made by County Asphalt on the roller. The changes may not be superced-ing causes. However, the fact that an operator would have to lean over to the side of the machine to adjust the controls, or that he had to sit on a toolbox or stand instead of sitting on a seat with a rail, or the fact that manual cleaning of the machine was necessary, or the fact that part of the operator’s platform was cut away, *654exposing the operator to the rear wheel, or that he could start the roller while standing on the ground means that a jury would be even less able to infer that the roller would have come to a stop in time to prevent the accident.
“In summary, as plaintiffs witnesses’ opinion on causation was not based on evidence in the record and as there was no evidence for a jury to determine whether plaintiff came into danger within or beyond the possible stopping distances of a roller equipped with a deadman’s switch, plaintiff failed to make a submissible case that the defect caused plaintiffs injury. As plaintiff failed to establish the necessary element of causation, we reverse and enter judgment for Dresser.”
I do not believe that evidence upon which two courts can differ to such a wide degree is either the type of evidence, the quantum of evidence or the quality of evidence which we should say is sufficient to justify saddling anyone with $3.0 million of liability-
The cause should be retransferred to the Court of Appeals, Eastern District as improvidently transferred for entry of and publication of the Court of Appeals opinion, or, this Court should reverse the cause and enter judgment for Dresser.

. The jury found for co-defendant Machinery, Inc., the alleged seller of the defective asphalt roller.

. However, regarding the alternative contention to point relied on #7, we invite the parties attention to RSMo 537.060 (1984 Supp.) which states that settlement agreements shall reduce the claim by the stipulated amount of the agreement. (Emphasis provided).

. We believe that the reception of the inadmissible evidence was prejudicial to Dresser. Because we make disposition of this appeal on Dresser’s first point, we will not address this contention.

. The rebuttal testimony consumed slightly more than two of 962 pages of transcript.

.In strict product liability cases, the tortious aspect of the defendant's conduct or activity is the defect in the particular product, and it is clear that the defect must be the cause of the injury. Richard W. Wright, Causation in Tort Law, Calif.L.R., Vol. 73, No. 6, p. 1770, Dec. 1985.

. A recent opinion of the District Court of Appeals of Florida, Second District presents similar facts. There the court noted:
The plaintiff sustained head injuries when he fell, and he has no recollection of what caused the accident. One coworker was present at the time of the accident, and testified that the plaintiff was on the platform which was being raised or had been raised to its extended position when the coworker turned away to look at something across the street. When he heard a noise, he turned back around and saw plaintiff falling through the air. He did not see what caused the fall. There is no indication in the record of how long a time passed between the coworker looking away and the beginning of the fall.
There, the plaintiff urged that it had to be assumed that plaintiff was standing on the platform inside the railing and for some reason, he fell. Causation occurred in that the railings were too low to prevent this fall. The court noted, like the case at hand, that equally reasonable assumptions were possible, such as the plaintiff sitting, standing or climbing on the railing, in which case, the higher railings would not have prevented the fall. Adkins v. Economy Engineering Co., 495 So.2d 247, 248 (Fla.App.1986).

. In his brief, plaintiff asserts that the defect was not the failure to install a deadman’s switch, but, rather, that the roller would continue to operate with the operator not in the operating position. We find this to be a distinction without a difference. First, throughout trial, plaintiff centered his thrust on the failure to install a deadman switch (e.g. Boulter Kelsey's lengthy discussion on types of deadman’s switches and the argument that a 10c spring would have prevented the accident). Second, how else does a roller stop when the operator leaves the operating position? Perhaps there are other names for emergency stopping devices which sense that the operator no longer is in the operating position and therefore cause the cessation of locomotion but the theory is still the same.

. What his deposition actually stated was:
Question: How far did the roller go after you hit the kill switch?
Answer: Just stopped or — a couple of feet— or—
Question: Was it on grass or something?
Answer: Yes, It was.
We do not believe that the above is sufficiently precise to have any significant probative value; especially in light of the fact that the roller was stopped by throwing the gear into ■ reverse. *653Also, when stopped, the roller was on grass, not asphalt.

. No test was performed on the roller. Soon after the accident it was dismantled. Interestingly, Boulter Kelsey, respondent’s expert, had run tests on another roller. These tests, using a switch rigged to the ignition switch, indicated that the stopping distances ranged from five to ten feet.