Court Opinion

ID: 9681930
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 08:01:31.782539+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:36.654083
License: Public Domain

John A. Fogleman, Justice, dissenting. I agree that, when the evidence is considered in the light most favorable to appellant and every reasonable inference is resolved in his favor, there was a question of fact as to the alleged negligence of appellees. Still I think the trial judge properly directed a verdict. In considering this matter, we must keep in mind that pedestrians as well as motorists are entitled to use the public highways and each must act with regard to the presence of the other. Yocum v. Holmes, 222 Ark. 251, 258 S. W. 2d 535; Haralson v. Jones Truck Line, 223 Ark. 813, 270 S. W. 2d 892. There are facts not stated in the majority opinion which I think are pertinent to the view I take of the matter. The headlights on the Maxwell pickup truck were dimmed because it was meeting a vehicle. The only evidence of damage to the pickup truck was on the extreme right front, very close to the extreme right headlight. There is no evidence to indicate that the Maxwell vehicle ever got closer to the right-hand shoulder of the highway than two feet from the pavement. This was at the end of the skidmarks. Since the skidmarks curved, then the Maxwell vehicle was somewhat nearer the center of the highway and farther from the right-hand side of the main-traveled portion of this roadway when it left the bridge. There had been a drizzling rain prior to this incident and weather conditions at the time Hill was struck were described as misty or a misty rain. Even if a jury could have reasonably deduced that Hill was walking on the Little Bay Bridge dressed in clothing that rendered him visible to the driver of a properly lighted vehicle when he was struck, this would not have been sufficient to submit the issues to a jury. There must also have been evidence tending to show that the failure of the driver to keep a proper lookout or the lack of required lighting equipment constituted the proximate cause of the decedent’s being struck. Appellees argue that there is no evidence to indicate that the decedent was walking on the main-traveled portion of the bridge when struck and nothing to indicate that he was occupying that portion of the highway for a sufficient length of time so that he could have been observed by the driver. Appellees say that, under the evidence here, the decedent may have stepped or turned into the path of the oncoming vehicle a split second before he was struck. Appellant states that in crossing the bridge it was necessary for Mr. Hill to walk on the portion thereof utilized by motor vehicles. On the other hand, appellees emphasize that there is no evidence to this effect and that the record is completely silent as to whether there was any other place on the bridge on which the decedent could walk. Even though appellees' argue the lack of evidence of the proximate causé in support of the verdict, appellant has not argued the point and has failed to point out any evidence which would enable the jury to determine the proximate cause without resort to speculation and conjecture. As appellees have pointed out, there was no evidence showing when the decedent stepped onto the portion of the highway traversed by vehicular traffic or the portion of the bridge which was in the path of appellees’ vehicle nor to show the relative positions of decedent and appellees’ truck at that time. He was not seen by either appellee until the instant of the impact and it is not shown that he was in a position where he could have been seen by the driver of that vehicle. It might be argued that the jury could have inferred either that the decedent was walking on the bridge in the path of vehicular traffic at a time such that Hazel Maxwell should have seen him in time to avoid striking him or that he stepped into the path of her vehicle so suddenly that her keeping a proper lookout would not have avoided his being struck. Yet a jury would have no evidence whatever to guide it in making its determination and would be left to speculation and conjecture only. An inference cannot be based upon evidence that is too uncertain and speculative or which raises merely a conjecture or possibility. The indulgence of inferences will not supply a nonexistent fact. Inferences to support a verdict arise out of facts established by evidence. Other inferences are purely speculative, guesswork or conjecture. It is not allowable under the rules of evidence to draw one inference from another or to indulge presumption upon presumption to establish a fact. To do so would carry the deduction into the realm of speculation and conjecture. Glidewell v. Arkhola Sand & Gravel Co., 212 Ark. 838, 208 S. W. 2d 4. In this case, the Maxwell vehicle was meeting another vehicle on the bridge in rainy or misty weather conditions. This situation should have been as obvious to Hill as it was to Mrs. Maxwell. As a pedestrian, Hill had a duty to exercise ordinary care for his own safety and to look out for and anticipate the presence and movements of vehicles. Missouri Pacific Transp. Co. v. George, 198 Ark. 1110, 133 S. W. 2d 37; Lion Oil Refining Co. v. Smith, 199 Ark. 397, 133 S. W. 2d 895; Pate v. Fears, 223 Ark. 365, 265 S. W. 2d 954; Williamson v. Garrigus, 228 Ark. 705, 310 S. W. 2d 8. While there was no burden on appellant to show that his decedent was free from negligence, it was incumbent upon him to offer such evidence tending to show proximate cause that a jury would not be left to speculation and conjecture to resolve that question between two equally probable possibilities. Turner v. Hot Springs Street Railway Co., 189 Ark. 894, 75 S. W. 2d 675. He must have offered evidence tending to show that the deceased was in such position on the bridge that his presence could have been discovered by a driver in Mrs. Maxwell’s position in time for her to have avoided striking him. The question as to how he came in contact with the Maxwell vehicle could not be left as a matter of conjecture, when it is just as reasonable to say that Hill’s own negligence may have caused his death. Porter v. Scullen, 129 Ark. 77, 195 S. W. 17; Missouri Pac. R. Co. v. Ross, 194 Ark. 877, 109 S. W. 2d 1246. There simply was no evidence to take the issue out of the realm of speculation and conjecture, so the trial court correctly directed the verdict. In effect, the majority has placed the burden of proving that their acts were not the proximate cause of the decedent’s death upon appellees. This is unique in our law and procedure. I would affirm the judgment. Brown, J., joins in this dissent.