Court Opinion

ID: 9717899
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:12:27.770335+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:55.970004
License: Public Domain

BUCHANAN, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent.
The jury heard evidence that Brock never saw the decedent's car, either as it ran Dorton's car off the highway or as it approached him head-on. This was devastating evidence of contributory negligence from which the triers-of-fact could well have concluded that Brock breached his duty to maintain a proper lookout; that is, he failed "to see that which [was] clearly visible or which in the exercise of due care would [have been] visible." Thornton v. Pender, (1978) 268 Ind. 540, 544, 377 N.E.2d 613, 617. And there is a reasonable inference that, given the excellent road and *1094weather conditions and the advance warning of danger afforded him, Brock's failure to keep a lookout "in more than a slight or remote degree contributed to or helped to produce [his] injuries." Huey v. Milligan, (1961) 242 Ind. 93, 101-02, 175 N.E.2d 698, 702.
It is well established that whether a driver complied with the standard of ordinary care to keep a lookout under the facts of the case is a question for the jury. See, e.g., Thornton, supra; Northwestern Transit, Inc. v. Wagner, (1945) 223 Ind. 447, 61 N.E.2d 591; Board of Commissioners v. Briggs, (1975) 167 Ind.App. 96, 337 N.E.2d 852, trans. denied. It is only when the facts are undisputed and only a single inference can be drawn therefrom that this court may say as a matter of law that a certain course of conduct does or does not constitute contributory negligence. Northwestern Transit, supra. General rules for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence claims dictate that we must affirm unless there is a total lack of evidence supporting the jury verdict. See Smart & Perry Ford Sales, Inc. v. Weaver, (1971) 149 Ind.App. 693, 274 N.E.2d 718.
By various calculations, the majority concludes that Brock could not have avoided the accident, given the amount of distance {500 feet maximum) afforded him. Yet the jury heard testimony that Dorton, with no prior warning and with significantly less distance in which to react (200 feet maximum), did in fact avoid a collision. I cite Dorton's actions, not as evidence per se of Brock's negligence, but as undisputed proof that directly conflicts with the majority's conclusion and supports the jury's decision.
Of course, the resolution of this problem depends upon more subtle factors than just time and distance. Did the decedent's abrupt swerve back into the northbound lane give Dorton an extra second in which to take evasive action? Did witness Fithian err in his calculation of distance, saying "yards" when he meant "feet"? Did a fence along the side of the road threaten Brock, but not Dorton? These are questions for the jury, and to hold otherwise is to usurp its function as fact-finder.
Having concluded that the jury's finding of contributory negligence cannot be overturned and having found no reversible error in the other issues raised by Brock, I would affirm the judgment.