Court Opinion

ID: 9626787
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:24:02.493551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:33.559756
License: Public Domain

Schroeder, C.J.,
dissenting: The thrust of the majority opinion as written will be misleading to the bench and bar. If justice is to prevail under the comparative negligence statute enacted by the legislature, cases such as this must be treated and tried as comparative negligence cases with all parties involved in the *561incident and contributing to the damages and injury available for the determination of comparative fault. See the discussion of comparative negligence in Ellis v. Union Pacific R.R. Co., 231 Kan. 182, 643 P.2d 158 (1982), and in my dissenting opinion in Wooderson v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp., 235 Kan. 387, 421, 681 P.2d 1083, cert. denied 469 U.S. 965 (1984).
Herd, J., dissenting: I respectfully disagree with the majority for the following reasons. In this case a truck with a semi-trailer ran through an illuminated stop signal, causing the accident and resulting injury. It is uncontroverted the stop signal was not up to standard and was improperly installed. Evidence was introduced that wind caused the signal to sway, obscuring the signal lights. Also, evidence was submitted that the caution cycle on the signal was abnormally short, making it difficult for an oncoming vehicle to stop before reaching the intersection.
It is well-settled law in this state that a cause of action may be proved by circumstantial evidence, and such evidence, in order to be sufficient to sustain the verdict of a jury, need not rise to that degree of certainty which will exclude any and every other reasonable conclusion. Proximate causation in a proper case may be shown by circumstantial evidence. Farmers Ins. Co. v. Smith, 219 Kan. 680, 688-89, 549 P.2d 1026 (1976); Casey v. Phillips Pipeline Co., 199 Kan. 538, 431 P.2d 518 (1967). Further, this court has consistently held that whether there is a causal connection between a breached duty and an injury sustained is a question of fact to be determined by the jury. Durflinger v. Artiles, 234 Kan. 484, 488, 673 P.2d 86 (1983); Schmeck v. City of Shawnee, 232 Kan. 11, 27, 651 P.2d 585 (1982); Stucky v. Johnson, 213 Kan. 738, 739, 518 P.2d 937 (1974).
The evidence of a defective signal combined with the failure to stop affords a reasonable basis for the conclusion that more likely than not the faulty signal caused the accident. That makes a prima facie case of negligence on the part of those charged with the responsibility for traffic control. The burden of going forward with the evidence then shifts to the defendants. It is their responsibility to bring in the truck driver and show that his negligence, independent of the traffic signal, caused the accident, or prove the traffic signal was not faulty. Thereafter, the jury would compare the fault of all and determine percentages. I would reverse the trial court and proceed with the trial.