Cathy Cromer brought this wrongful death action jointly against Barbara Hodges, Norika Wyatt and Bennie Wyatt alleging that the negligence of Hodges and Wyatt proximately caused the death of her husband Nolan Glenn Cromer from injuries he sustained in an automobile collision. Following presentation of the plaintiff’s case, the defendants’ motions for directed verdict were granted by the trial court as to all defendants.
The evidence at trial showed it was raining and dark on the evening of November 12, 1992, when Nolan Cromer’s vehicle began to “fishtail” as he lost control while traveling south on Highway 49 in Sumter County. Approaching from the opposite direction, Barbara Hodges reduced her speed when she saw Cromer’s oncoming vehicle swerving out of control, but the vehicles collided in the northbound lane and came to rest off the roadway. Before the collision or at impact, Nolan Cromer was ejected through the driver’s door of his automobile and was hit by Hodges’ vehicle, his body coming to rest in the middle of the roadway. At the time of the collision, Cromer’s vehicle was in disrepair: the rear tires possessed minimal tread, the accelerator was known to stick on occasion, and the driver’s side door could open without the latch being lifted. Nolan Cromer’s blood-alcohol concentration was subsequently found to be .14 grams. After the collision, Hodges stood beside Cromer’s motionless body in the roadway and tried to warn oncoming motorists. Norika Wyatt approached from the south, passed the scene, and pulled over. The evidence is in conflict as to whether or not Wyatt’s vehicle struck Cromer. A witness testified that Wyatt’s vehicle was traveling “fast,” but the record contains no other evidence of her rate of speed. The parties stipulated that Nolan Cromer’s death resulted from injuries sustained in the course of these events.
1. Cathy Cromer enumerates as error the grant of a directed verdict to Hodges. She argues the jury should have been allowed to determine whether Hodges negligently failed to stop when she realized Nolan Cromer’s vehicle was “fishtailing” and out of control.
We review the grant of a directed verdict to determine whether it was demanded
Cathy Cromer failed to establish the elements of negligence and thereby to make out a prima facie case against Hodges. Even if the jury found that Hodges negligently failed to stop when she saw Nolan Cromer’s oncoming, out-of-control vehicle, no evidence shows that such a breach of duty proximately caused Nolan Cromer’s injuries. The parties’ pretrial stipulation that death resulted from injuries sustained in the November 12 incident does not obviate the need for proof on the issue of causation, especially in a case involving allegations of contributory negligence. Whether Nolan Cromer died from injuries sustained when he hit the pavement, or when Hodges’ vehicle hit him, or if and when Wyatt’s vehicle hit him is a matter that cannot be left to the jury’s speculation. There was no evidentiary basis for the jury to determine the extent to which Nolan Cromer’s injuries resulted from his own conduct as opposed to that of the defendants. Accordingly, the trial court correctly directed a verdict for Hodges.
2. Cathy Cromer contends a directed verdict for Wyatt was not authorized because a jury could have found her negligent even if it found Hodges was not at fault. Relying on
Fountain v. Thompson,
“The mere existence of conflicts in the evidence does not render the direction of a verdict erroneous if it was demanded, either from proof or from lack of proof on the controlling issue or issues.”
Carr v. Jacuzzi Bros.,
Judgment affirmed.