8 N.C. App. 499 | N.C. Ct. App. | 1970
The only question to be determined on this appeal is whether the court erred in allowing defendants’ motions for nonsuit. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies to automobile accidents in some
When considering a motion for nonsuit based on plaintiff’s contributory negligence, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and nonsuit is proper only when the evidence establishes plaintiff’s contributory negligence as a matter of law and not when other reasonable inferences may be drawn or when there are material conflicts in the evidence. See 6 N.C. Index 2d, Negligence, § 35, and cases there cited.
After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff, we are of the opinion that such questions as whether plaintiff was speeding, whether plaintiff was following too closely and where the cars involved in the accident actually left the road, as they relate to a determination of whether plaintiff was contributorily negligent, should have been for the jury. We cannot say that contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff has been so clearly established by his evidence that no other conclusion can reasonably be drawn therefrom.
New trial.