Vaughn v. Porter

• Decision Date: 01 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 29719.,29719.
• Parties: Kristina A. VAUGHN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Scott M. PORTER, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

95 P.3d 88

140 Idaho 470

Kristina A. VAUGHN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Scott M. PORTER, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 29719.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

July 1, 2004.

Derek Anthony Pica, Boise, for appellant.

Cantrill, Skinner, Sullivan King, LLP, Boise, for respondent. Robert David Lewis argued.

LANSING, Chief Judge.

This is a personal injury action in which Kristina A. Vaughn sued Scott M. Porter for damages as a result of injuries that Vaughn sustained in an automobile accident. After a jury found Vaughn's negligence to be equal to that of Porter, which deprived Vaughn of any recovery, she filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a motion for a new trial, both of which were denied by the district court. Vaughn appeals from the denial of her motions. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 31, 2000, Vaughn was driving westbound on Palouse Street in Boise, approaching an uncontrolled intersection with Gourley Street. To her left, Porter was traveling northbound on Gourley toward the same intersection, going 25 to 30 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone. Neither driver saw the other's automobile approaching the intersection, and Vaughn's car collided with the back right panel of Porter's vehicle. Vaughn sued Porter, alleging that he was negligent in failing to yield the right-of-way in compliance with an Idaho statute providing that, where two vehicles approach an uncontrolled intersection, the driver on the right possesses the right-of-way.

A jury found that Vaughn and Porter were each 50 percent negligent. This verdict precluded any recovery by Vaughn because, under Idaho's comparative negligence law, Idaho Code § 6-801, a plaintiff whose negligence contributed to an injury may not recover from any defendant whose negligence was no greater than that of the plaintiff. Following the jury verdict, Vaughn moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict ("jnov"), and for a new trial. The district court denied both motions. Vaughn appeals from the order denying her post-trial motions.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict

We first address Vaughn's contention that the district court should have granted her motion for jnov. She argues that on the evidence presented at trial, a reasonable mind could only conclude that the accident was caused solely by Porter's negligence.

A motion for jnov may be granted only where there is no substantial competent evidence to support the jury's verdict. Ricketts v. E. Idaho Equip. Co., Inc., 137 Idaho 578, 580, 51 P.3d 392, 394 (2002); Highland Enters., Inc. v. Barker, 133 Idaho 330, 337, 986 P.2d 996, 1003 (1999). To be substantial, the evidence need not be uncontradicted; it need only be of a sufficient quantity and probative value that reasonable minds could conclude that the jury's verdict was proper. Ricketts, 137 Idaho at 580, 51 P.3d at 394; Smith v. Great Basin Grain Co., 98 Idaho 266, 274, 561 P.2d 1299, 1307 (1977). In ruling on the motion, the trial court does not weigh the evidence, evaluate the credibility of witnesses, or compare any of its own factual findings to those of the jury; the court draws all inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Ricketts, 137 Idaho at 580, 51 P.3d at 394. The motion should be granted only where reasonable minds could not have arrived at the verdict that was reached by the jury. Id.; Watson v. Navistar Int'l Transp. Corp., 121 Idaho 643, 658, 827 P.2d 656, 671 (1992). On appeal, we apply that same standard and do not defer to the trial court's views. Ricketts, 137 Idaho at 580-81, 51 P.3d at 394-95.

Central to Vaughn's argument is her contention that she had no duty to look to her left as she approached the intersection. She relies upon I.C. § 49-640(1), which placed upon Porter the duty to yield the right-of-way at the intersection. That statute provides: "When two (2) vehicles approach or enter an unmarked or uncontrolled intersection from different highways at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right of way to the vehicle on the right." Vaughn argues that this statute places the sole duty of care upon the driver of the vehicle on the left.

Although this statute plainly placed upon Porter the duty to yield the right-of-way, we disagree with Vaughn's contention that it correspondingly relieved her of any duty of care. Idaho law requires that all drivers keep a proper lookout. See, e.g., Rife v. Long, 127 Idaho 841, 851, 908 P.2d 143, 153 (1995)

; Smith v. Angell, 122 Idaho 25, 28, 830 P.2d 1163, 1166 (1992); Robinson v. Westover, 101 Idaho 766, 768, 620 P.2d 1096, 1098 (1980); Drury v. Palmer, 84 Idaho 558, 564, 375 P.2d 125, 128 (1962). This duty was described as follows in Drury which, like the present case, arose from a collision in an uncontrolled intersection.

[Plaintiff] was under the duty to maintain a lookout for other vehicles approaching the intersection. The duty is not merely of looking, but is one of observation, imposing upon a motorist the necessity of being observant as to the traffic and general situation at or in the vicinity of the intersection. He must look in such prudent and careful manner as to enable him to see what a person in the exercise of ordinary care and caution for the safety of himself and others would have seen under like circumstances.

Drury, 84 Idaho at 562, 375 P.2d at 127.

The whole theory of motor vehicle law is based on the requirement that the operator keep his vehicle under control at all times, considering actual and potential hazards, which of necessity contemplates proper lookout by the operator. (I.C. § 49-701). It is not only the duty of the operator to look, but it is his duty to see and be cognizant of that which is plainly visible or obviously apparent, and a failure on his part in this regard, without proper justification or reason, makes him chargeable for failure to see what he should have seen had he been in the exercise of reasonable care.

Drury, 84 Idaho at 564, 375 P.2d at 128. Vaughn therefore bore a duty to vigilantly watch for other vehicles or road hazards.

Vaughn argues, however, that she was entitled to assume that any driver approaching from the left would yield, and therefore had no duty to keep a lookout for vehicles approaching from that direction. She relies upon a statement from Quick v. Crane, 111 Idaho 759, 764, 727 P.2d 1187, 1192 (1986), that "a driver has the right to assume other drivers are exercising reasonable care on the highways by obeying the rules of the road." According to Vaughn, this statement establishes that she was entitled to assume that any driver approaching the intersection from the left would obey I.C. § 49-640(1) by yielding the right-of-way, so that Vaughn had no duty to look in that direction before entering the intersection.

In negligence actions, the determination of whether a duty existed is a question of law to be decided by the court. Bramwell v. S. Rigby Canal Co., 136 Idaho 648, 650, 39 P.3d 588, 590 (2001); Turpen v. Granieri, 133 Idaho 244, 247, 985 P.2d 669, 672 (1999). We conclude that Vaughn misapprehends the meaning of the statement in Quick and the function of I.C. § 49-640(1). In Quick, several vehicles were driving on the freeway behind a truck in a thick fog. The plaintiffs' vehicle, traveling at 25 m.p.h. or more, collided with the back of the defendants' truck when the truck was either completely stopped or moving about 5 m.p.h. The jury apportioned 87 percent of the negligence to the truck driver and only 12 percent to the plaintiffs. The defendants moved for jnov, arguing that no reasonable jury could have found the plaintiffs to be only 12 percent at fault. The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court's denial of the defendants' jnov motion, and in doing so, made the comment upon which Vaughn now relies:

A stopped vehicle in the middle of the traveling lane of a highway, even when conditions impair visibility, is a hazard the law does not require other drivers to assume. In fact, a driver has the right to assume other drivers are exercising reasonable care on the highways by obeying the rules of the road.

Quick, 111 Idaho at 764, 727 P.2d at 1192. We do not understand this language to eliminate a driver's duty to keep a lookout for other vehicles, including those that may be operated in violation of the law. In Quick, the Court was considering whether the defendant truck driver, despite his own negligence, could be relieved of liability because the plaintiffs' negligence should have been found to be greater. It was not contended in Quick, and the Court did not hold, that either party could be completely relieved of any duty of care because the other was driving negligently.

The notion that Vaughn had no obligation to keep a lookout to the left as she entered the intersection because of the operation of I.C. § 49-640(1) is negated by additional decisions that, like Quick, mention a driver's right to assume that others are obeying the rules of the road. These cases indicate that such an assumption is permissible only for drivers who are themselves exercising due care. For example, Coughran v. Hickox, 82 Idaho 18, 348 P.2d 724 (1960) expresses the rule as follows: "Ordinarily a motorist may assume that other travelers will obey the rules of the road, at least in the absence of anything which in the exercise of reasonable care would put him on notice to the contrary. Where he is himself observing the regulations for traffic on the highway he has a right to its use superior to that of one who is violating traffic regulations." Id. at 26, 348 P.2d at 728 (emphasis added). Similarly, the court in Holland v. Peterson, 95 Idaho 728, 518 P.2d 1190 (1974) endorsed, as a correct general statement of the law, a jury instruction saying that "Every person who, himself, is exercising ordinary care, has a right to assume that every other person will perform his duty and obey the law, and in the absence of reasonable cause for...