Court Opinion

ID: 9636554
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 14:33:13.660986+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:46.857573
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge, dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. Because there was no evidence that any of the injuries complained of by the plaintiff-appellee were caused by conduct of the defendant-appellant, I would reverse the judgment entered on the jury’s verdict in favor of the plaintiff-appellee.
On November 10, 1987, a vehicle being operated by the appellee, Tandra Smith, was struck from behind by another vehicle being operated by the appellant, Michael Pulcinella. A police officer who arrived at the scene of the accident removed the Smith car from the roadway and placed it on the shoulder. The officer then directed Pulcinella to park his vehicle behind Smith’s. After approximately fifteen (15) minutes, during which the drivers exchanged insurance information, they returned to their respective automobiles. While they 'were seated in their vehicles, a third vehicle struck the Pulcinella car in the rear and pushed it into Smith’s vehicle, causing injury to Smith.
Smith filed a civil action in which she named as defendants Pulcinella and another person whom she believed to be the operator of the third vehicle. It was later discovered, however, that the individual named as the driver of the third vehicle was incorrect; and, therefore, this person was dismissed from the action.1 The action continued solely against Pulcinella. At trial, Smith conceded that after the first impact she had told the investigating officer that she was not hurt. Her medical expert testified that Smith had sustained back injuries on November 10, 1987, but he said that he was unable to *533determine with any degree of medical certainty whether they had been caused by the first impact, the second impact or a combination of both accidents. The trial court treated both incidents as a single event and allowed the jury to award damages for all of Smith’s injuries against Pulcinella.
In my best judgment, this was error. The two accidents were separate incidents. Moreover, the first accident did not create a continuing circumstance upon which the third driver acted. The first accident had come to an end, and the vehicles had been moved, by the intervention and direction of an investigating police officer. He had removed Smith’s vehicle from the travelled portion of the roadway to a place of relative safety on the shoulder and had instructed Pulcinella to do the same. It seems clear, therefore, that Pulcinella’s negligence in causing the initial accident had come to an end before a third person’s negligence caused a second accident. As such, appellant and the third driver cannot be deemed joint tortfeasors.
In Shamey v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 229 Pa.Super. 215, 331 A.2d 498 (1974), the plaintiffs had been ascending a grade when their vehicle became stuck in snow and ice. A second vehicle, driven by McFarland, descended the hill and struck the plaintiffs’ car, causing it to spin 180 degrees so that it was now facing downhill. Shortly thereafter, a third vehicle, driven by Osborn, descended the hill and also struck the plaintiffs’ car. Because Osborn had no liability insurance, the plaintiffs sued McFarland. As to the potential liability of McFarland, the Court indicated that it would be inappropriate to hold him liable for damages which were not the result of his negligence. The Court said:
There were two separate collisions by two allegedly negligent drivers, and each will only be responsible for the injuries caused by his negligence: McAllister v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co., 324 Pa. 65, 187 A. 415 (1936); Restatement of Torts, Second § 433A and § 433B; Prosser, Law of Torts, § 52 (4th ed. 1971). The mere fact that the two collisions occurred within a brief period of time, and therefore make the apportionment of damages difficult, does not render *534McFarland liable for the damage caused by Osborn’s negligence. As Professor Prosser has stated: “Mere coincidence in time does not make the two one tort, nor does similarity of design or conduct, without concert. Evidence may be entirely lacking upon which to apportion some elements of the damages, such as medical expenses, or permanent disability, or the plaintiffs pain and suffering; but this never has been regarded as sufficient reason to hold one defendant liable for the damage inflicted by the other.” Prosser, supra at p. 317.
Id. at 223-224, 331 A.2d at 502. See also: Lasprogata v. Qualls, 263 Pa.Super. 174, 179-180, 397 A.2d 803, 805-806 (1979) (where two tortfeasors breach separate duties to plaintiff, damages must be apportioned); Wade v. S.J. Groves & Sons Co., 283 Pa.Super. 464, 475, 424 A.2d 902, 907 (1981) (where tortfeasors are not acting jointly so that the results of conduct of each is separate, damages must be apportioned).
In the case sub judice, the record discloses no evidence that the plaintiff-appellee sustained any injury as a result of the original impact between her vehicle and the vehicle driven by the defendant-appellant. Thus, the plaintiff failed to meet her burden of proving that the original impact had been a substantial factor in causing the injuries of which she complained. Under such circumstances, Section 433A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts can have no application. It has application only where two causes have combined to bring about harm to the plaintiff and each has been a substantial factor in producing the harm. Id. at Comment (a). See also: Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 430 (“In order that a negligent actor shall be liable for another’s harm, it is necessary not only that the actor’s conduct be negligent toward the other, but also that the negligence of the actor be a legal cause of the other’s harm”). Here, there is no evidence that the defendant’s conduct was a legal cause, i.e., a substantial factor, in causing the plaintiffs injuries. The burden of proving causation was on the plaintiff-appellee. To impose liability on the defendant-appellant without proof that his conduct caused injury is to *535hold him responsible for damages caused by the negligence of another.
I would reverse the judgment entered on the verdict and cause a judgment n.o.v. to be entered in favor of the appellant.

. A fourth individual was named in the complaint as having caused the accident which injured Smith. However, when it was discovered that this individual had also been misidentified, he similarly was dismissed as a party.