Spinler v. Allen

• Decision Date: 08 July 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-654.,98-654.
• Citation: 983 P.2d 348,1999 MT 160
• Parties: Vickey Jean SPINLER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Melanie Carol ALLEN, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

983 P.2d 348

1999 MT 160

Vickey Jean SPINLER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Melanie Carol ALLEN, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 98-654.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs March 25, 1999.

Decided July 8, 1999.

Robert G. Olson; Frisbee, Moore & Olson, Cut Bank, Montana, for Appellant.

Daniel W. Hileman; Kaufman, Vidal & Hileman, Kalispell, Montana, for Respondent.

Justice KARLA M. GRAY delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Vickey Jean Spinler (Spinler) appeals from the judgment entered by the Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, on a jury verdict in favor of Melanie Carol Allen (Allen). We affirm.

¶ 2 Spinler raises the following issues:

¶ 3 1. Did the District Court err in denying Spinler's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability?

¶ 4 2. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in excluding evidence that Allen was cited for failure to yield the right-of-way after the accident?

¶ 5 3. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in allowing testimony regarding Spinler's driving speed immediately prior to the accident?

¶ 6 4. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in refusing Spinler's offered instruction that the jury disregard evidence of the speed at which Spinler was driving prior to the accident?

BACKGROUND

¶ 7 This case arose from a two-vehicle accident which occurred at the intersection of 1st Avenue East North (1st Avenue) and East Idaho Street(East Idaho) in Kalispell, Montana, at approximately 12:45 p.m. on August 6, 1992. East Idaho, also known as Highway 2, consists of two eastbound and two westbound lanes of traffic and a center turn lane. 1st Avenue runs in a north-south direction and is controlled by stop signs where it intersects East Idaho.

¶ 8 Allen approached the intersection traveling south on 1st Avenue and stopped her truck at the stop sign with the westbound lanes of East Idaho nearest her. The westbound lanes were backed up, with cars stopped on both sides of the intersection, but space was left for a vehicle southbound on 1st Avenue to enter the intersection. Allen waited at the stop sign while a number of cars in the eastbound lanes of East Idaho drove past and then, seeing no other vehicles in the eastbound lanes, proceeded through the intersection. She crossed both westbound lanes, the center turn lane and the first of the eastbound lanes. Spinler was traveling in the outside eastbound lane of East Idaho and, as Allen crossed that lane, the left front of Spinler's vehicle collided with the passenger-side door of Allen's truck.

¶ 9 Spinler filed an action against Allen to recover damages for injuries she allegedly suffered as a result of the accident. Her complaint alleged that Allen had been negligent in failing to yield the right-of-way at the stop sign and that Allen's negligence was the cause of the accident. In her answer, Allen denied she had acted negligently and asserted that Spinler had been negligent. The parties conducted substantial discovery.

¶ 10 Spinler subsequently moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability, asserting the absence of genuine issues of material fact regarding Allen having breached her § 61-8-341(1), MCA, duty to yield the right-of-way and that the statutory violation constituted negligence as a matter of law. She further asserted the absence of genuine issues of material fact regarding her own negligence, contending that—as the favored driver under the right-of-way statute—she had the right to rely on Allen's compliance with the statute, she was not required to anticipate Allen's violation of the statute and the manner in which she operated her vehicle, including her driving speed, was not a proximate cause of the collision. Allen responded that there were genuine issues of material fact regarding which party had the duty, pursuant to § 61-8-341(1), MCA, to yield the right-of-way and whether Spinler was negligent for speeding and failing to keep a proper lookout for other traffic.

¶ 11 The District Court concluded generally that genuine issues of material fact existed which precluded summary judgment and, specifically, that the deposition testimony of Spinler and her passenger, Tammy Waritz (Waritz), conflicted concerning Spinler's ability to see the accident scene and Allen's approaching vehicle. It denied Spinler's motion accordingly.

¶ 12 The case proceeded to trial. Spinler maintained that, as the driver on the through street, she had the primary right to proceed through the intersection and that Allen was negligent for violating her statutory duty to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic at the stop sign. Allen maintained that her statutory duty to yield never arose because, at the time she entered the intersection, Spinler was not close enough to constitute an immediate hazard. Allen further asserted that, once she entered the intersection, § 61-8-341(1), MCA, imposed a duty on Spinler to yield the right-of-way, which Spinler failed to do. Finally, Allen argued that Spinler was negligent by speeding and not paying attention to the traffic around her. The jury found that Allen was not negligent. The District Court entered judgment on the verdict and Spinler appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶ 13 1. Did the District Court err in denying Spinler's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability?

¶ 14 We review a district court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment de novo, applying the same criteria applied by the district court. Montana Metal Buildings, Inc. v. Shapiro (1997), 283 Mont. 471, 474, 942 P.2d 694, 696 (citation omitted). In that regard,

[t]he judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

Rule 56(c), M.R.Civ.P.

¶ 15 The party moving for summary judgment has the initial burden of establishing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact which would allow the nonmoving party to recover and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Montana Metal Buildings, 283 Mont. at 474, 942 P.2d at 696. If this burden is met, the party opposing summary judgment must come forward with substantial evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment. Montana Metal Buildings, 283 Mont. at 474, 942 P.2d at 696. "Material issues of fact are identified by looking to the substantive law which governs the claim." McGinnis v. Hand, 1999 MT 9, ¶ 6, 972 P.2d 1126, ¶ 6, 56 St. Rep. 39, ¶ 6.

¶ 16 Summary judgment is an extreme remedy and should never be substituted for trial if a material factual controversy exists. Montana Metal Buildings, 283 Mont. at 474, 942 P.2d at 696. Furthermore, reasonable inferences which might be drawn from the evidence presented should be drawn in favor of the nonmoving party. Montana Metal Buildings, 283 Mont. at 474, 942 P.2d at 696.

¶ 17 As stated above, the District Court determined that a number of genuine issues of material fact existed, one of which arose from Spinler's and Waritz's conflicting deposition testimony as to whether Spinler could see the accident scene and Allen's oncoming vehicle. Spinler concedes the existence of this factual issue, but asserts that it is not material in light of the absence of genuine issues of material fact that Allen breached her § 61-8-341(1), MCA, duty to yield to through traffic. Section 61-8-341(1), MCA, provides that

[t]he driver of a vehicle shall stop [at a stop sign] at the entrance to a through highway and shall yield the right-of-way to other vehicles which have entered the intersection from said through highway or which are approaching so closely on said through highway as to constitute an immediate hazard, but said driver having so yielded may proceed and the drivers of all other vehicles approaching the intersection on said through highway shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle so proceeding into or across the through highway.

¶ 18 Spinler contends that, as the driver on the through street approaching the intersection, she was the favored driver under the statute and Allen was required to yield the right-of-way to her. She further contends that the favored driver at an intersection has the right to rely on the disfavored driver's compliance with the traffic statute and is not required to anticipate a violation of the statute. On this basis, she argues that her ability to see the intersection and Allen's vehicle is not a material fact which would preclude summary judgment in her favor. She cites Roe v. Kornder-Owen (1997), 282 Mont. 287, 937 P.2d 39, in support of her argument and asserts that the facts of the present case are substantially similar to the facts in Roe.

¶ 19 In Roe, the plaintiff stopped at a stop sign controlling an intersection with a multi-lane through highway. The plaintiff observed the defendant's vehicle approximately one-half block away, approaching the intersection on the through highway. Determining that she had ample time to cross the intersection, the plaintiff proceeded forward and the two vehicles collided. Roe, 282 Mont. at 289, 937 P.2d at 40-41. The defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff, as the disfavored driver at the intersection, had a statutory duty to yield the right-of-way to the defendant, failed to so yield and, consequently, was the negligent party. In response, the plaintiff argued that there were several genuine issues of material fact precluding summary judgment, including whether the defendant maintained an adequate lookout for oncoming traffic. Roe, 282 Mont. at 289, 937 P.2d at 41.

¶ 20 We affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendant, holding that, based on the facts of the case, the plaintiff had failed her § 61-8-341, MCA, duty to yield the right-of-way to the defendant and was negligent as...