Court Opinion

ID: 9671780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:43:17.815605+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:11.842124
License: Public Domain

Justice ENOCH,
concurring.
I agree with Chief Justice Phillips’ opinion and the judgment of the Court. While I concur that the submission of the unavoidable accident instruction was not harmful error in this case, I write separately to express my view that the instruction should be discarded entirely.
The standard negligence and ordinary care instructions are predicated upon conduct occurring under the “same or similar circumstances.” The unavoidable accident instruction, like the sudden emergency instruction, is subsumed in the standard negligence inquiry. Thomas v. Oldham, 895 S.W.2d 352 (Tex.1995) (Enoch, J., concurring). At best, these instructions are superfluous distractions that lead the jury away from determining negligence, and at worst, the reiteration of the negligence standard may be perceived by the jury as a subtle hint to find no negligence.
For over twenty years this Court has attempted to simplify jury instructions in the interest of justice. See Lemos v. Montez, 680 S.W.2d 798, 801 (Tex.1984) (tracing history of jury charge reform to 1973). It is my hope that in the appropriate case the Court will completely discard this instruction that serves no useful purpose.