Court Opinion

ID: 9656469
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:48:49.399272+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:32.342679
License: Public Domain

Cynar, J.
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent from the determination of the majority that the plaintiffs are entitled to a new trial. In my view, Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins Co v Detroit Edison Co, 95 Mich App 62; 289 NW2d 879 (1980), supports a finding that the plaintiffs’ complaint was not sufficiently specific to put the defendant on notice that the plaintiffs were claiming more than a case of simple negligence. Nationwide underscores the confusion attendant to the use of various supposedly "standard” terms in allegations of tort liability.
This is not, however, the sole ground of my dissenting opinion. My review of the record convinces me that the evidence offered in support of a theory of "gross negligence”, a theory of "last clear chance”, or a theory of subsequent negligence was simply not substantial enough to support the existence of such theories. Although the selective presentation of quotations from certain portions of testimony in the plaintiffs’ brief might seem to compel the opposite conclusion, such a *134conclusion appears unwarranted when the statements in question are viewed in context. It is clear that as soon as the engineer realized that plaintiff Emmet St. Onge would not stop, he applied the train’s brakes. I think it is apparent that the engineer reasonably thought that plaintiff Emmet St. Onge could have and would have stopped up until the time plaintiff Emmet St. Onge apparently lost control of his motorcycle, going "over the handlebars”. I would not find an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court and therefore the plaintiffs are not entitled to a new trial. Fred Gibbs, Inc v Old Colony Ins Co, 30 Mich App 352, 355; 186 NW2d 396 (1971).
I note that the trial court grounded its ultimate decision on the untimeliness of the plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint. I find the trial court’s ruling proper under the authority of Messer v Floyd Rice Ford, Inc, 91 Mich App 644; 284 NW2d 139 (1979).
For all of the above reasons, I find no error in any of the rulings complained of by the plaintiffs. I would affirm.