Court Opinion

ID: 9717628
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:07:23.45569+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:54.345125
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WELCH, dissenting: I respectfully dissent because, although there is contradictory evidence as to exactly when and where defendant first saw decedent, under any possible version of the facts, defendant was in the exercise of ordinary care and could not have avoided hitting decedent. Therefore, defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The only facts which are contradictory are whether defendant’s attention was distracted from the roadway immediately in front of him because he was concerned whether the car parked on the shoulder was a police car, and whether defendant saw decedent standing on the shoulder of the road either in front of or behind the parked car sometime prior to the impact. However, even if defendant was looking primarily at the car parked on the shoulder, his field of vision would have included anyone standing in the roadway. Defendant did not see anyone standing in the roadway until immediately prior to impact because, presumably, no one was there until immediately prior to the impact. Furthermore, even if defendant had seen decedent standing on the shoulder, he had no reason to suspect that decedent might dart onto the roadway in the path of his truck until decedent did so. In any event, defendant exercised reasonable care under the circumstances. His vision extended only 500 feet ahead of him at the most. It was a dark night, and the only illumination came from the headlights of the vehicles on the roadway. The pavement was wet, and there was a car in the right lane beside him, making it impractical for him to swerve to the right or switch lanes. Defendant could not swerve to the left because of the parked car. He could not have stopped or appreciably slowed his truck even had he seen decedent in the roadway under either version of the facts. Defendant could have done nothing to avoid this accident. Under either version of the facts, defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of defendant.