Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, Inc., 75--1590
| Decision Date | 20 December 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75--1590,75--1590 |
| Citation | 340 So.2d 962 |
| Parties | Larry Eugene VITT and Carol J. Vitt, his wife, Appellants, v. RYDER TRUCK RENTALS, INC., et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Schwartz & Klein, North Miami Beach, Podhurst, Orseck & Parks, Miami, for appellants.
Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick & Knight, Miami, for appellees.
Before PEARSON, HENDRY and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
The appellants are Larry Eugene Vitt and Carol J. Vitt, his wife; they were the plaintiffs in the trial court and received a final judgment awarding damages of $125,000 to Mr. Vitt and $35,000 to Mrs. Vitt. The judgment was pursuant to jury verdicts in an action for damages as a result of defendant's negligence in a collision between a tractor-trailer truck owned, operated and driven by the defendants and a motorcycle driven by Mr. Vitt. Comparative negligence was an issue in the trial and upon return of the jury verdicts, the plaintiffs moved for a new trial urging inadequacy of those verdicts and errors in the trial procedure.
The case was well-tried over a period of several days. Our review of the record in the light of the briefs and arguments convinces us that no reversible error appears, and we affirm.
The plaintiffs have presented six points on appeal. They are as follows: (1) The court erred in admitting into evidence the results of two experiments designed to show the stopping distance and the ability of a motorcycle to negotiate the corner where the accident occurred. (2) The court erred in admitting the testimony of two doctors concerning possible surgical procedures for further treatment of the plaintiff, Mr. Vitt. (3) The court erred in that it rebuked counsel for Mr. Vitt in the presence of the jury. (4) The court erred in allowing the testimony of three rebuttal witnesses whose identity had not been disclosed in the answers to interrogatories. (5) The court erred in failing to reinstruct the jury on comparative negligence when the jury returned with a question on negligence. (6) The court erred in failing to grant a new trial because the verdict was grossly inadequate for the serious injuries incurred.
Plaintiff Vitt was a police officer for the City of Miami Shores. He was proceeding north on N.E.6th Avenue near its intersection with N.E.95th Street in Dade County. The defendant truck made a left hand turn from N.E.6th Avenue to go east on N.E.95th Street as the plaintiff approached the intersection. The plaintiff applied his brakes and then, rather than hit the truck head-on, laid his motorcycle on its side and tried to skid underneath the truck. The plaintiff struck a part of the truck and was seriously injured in the pelvic region. He suffered permanent anatomical abnormalities of the pelvis and at the time of the trial, suffered from constant leaking of urine and impotence, as well as other claimed associated injuries.
The greatest emphasis on this appeal is placed upon the first point urging that the admission of testimony concerning the results of the two tests was improper. Defendant's witness, C. W. Morrison, testified as an accident reconstruction expert. Over plaintiff's objection, he was allowed to testify that using his son as a rider and using a Harley Davidson motorcycle, which was the make of motorcycle used by the plaintiff, he had conducted 3 tests: two stopping-distance tests and a vehicle control ability test. The two stopping-distance tests were conducted at 32 miles per hour and at 35 miles per hour respectively. The tests were conducted at the site of the accident and attempted to show that a motorcycle of the same general type could be stopped from the point where the plaintiff's skid marks started before the point of impact. The third test was performed at a speed of 35 miles per hour and was designed to show that a Harley Davidson motorcycle could negotiate the corner at that speed without reaching the point of impact. Appellant urges that the following dissimilarities between the tests and the accident should have prevented the tests from being presented to the jury: (1) the point of impact was not properly established; (2) the weight of the driver was not shown to approximate that of the plaintiff; (3) the motorcycle was not shown to have been similar except as to make; (4) the truck was not present during the experiment; and (5) there was no traffic, therefore, no emergency condition.
The appellants urge that under Florida's restrictive policy with regard to admissibility of experiment results, the court erred in admitting the testimony. He relies upon the principle set...
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Rindfleisch v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc.
...removed and tested after accident were representative and admissible), review denied, 413 So.2d 876 (Fla.1982); Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, 340 So.2d 962 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976) (dissimilarity between test conditions and conditions surrounding collision was not so much as to destroy validity of......
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Husky Industries, Inc. v. Black
...See Hisler v. State, 52 Fla. 30, 42 So. 969 (1906); State v. Arroyo, 422 So.2d 50 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, Inc., 340 So.2d 962 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). See also Burgin v. Merritt, 311 So.2d 688 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975). It should be no less apparent that since the basis for Fis......
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Dempsey v. Shell Oil Co.
...cites to two decisions which we find consistent with the rule of substantial similarity. The first of these is Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, Inc, 340 So.2d 962 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). The Vitt court concluded that the dissimilarity between the test conditions and the conditions surrounding the c......
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Shennett v. State
...So.2d 271, 274 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987) (citing Young v. Ill. Cen. Gulf R.R., 618 F.2d 332, 337-38 (5th Cir.1980); Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, Inc., 340 So.2d 962, 965 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976)). "[A] court's conclusion as to the similarity of [an] experiment to the event is a matter within the court's......
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Appellate standards of review.
...So. 2d 845 (Fla. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S.Ct. 1370, 140 L.Ed.2d 519 (1998) (photographic evidence); Vitt v. Ryder Truck Rentals, Inc., 340 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977) (experimental evidence); McMullen v. State, 714 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 1998) (expert testimony); accord Ramirez v. State, 542 ......