Williams v. Worthington
| Citation | 386 So.2d 408 |
| Parties | Wyndell WILLIAMS v. Jackson B. WORTHINGTON. 78-777. |
| Decision Date | 30 May 1980 |
| Court | Supreme Court of Alabama |
Richard L. Taylor, Birmingham, for appellant.
Jasper P. Juliano and William J. McDaniel, of McDaniel, Hall, Parsons & Conerly, Birmingham, for appellee.
Plaintiff sued defendant for damages due to injuries he allegedly sustained when their motor vehicles collided. Defendant requested the trial judge to instruct the jury on the "sudden emergency" doctrine of tort law. The trial judge gave the instruction, over objection, and the jury rendered a verdict for the defendant. Plaintiff appeals, claiming the court erred to reversal in giving the "sudden emergency" instruction. We affirm.
This case involves rear end collisions between three vehicles which were each headed north in relatively congested traffic, on 26th Street North in Birmingham (26th Street North is also part of U.S. Highway 31). The first vehicle suffered slight rear damage. The driver of that vehicle is not a party to this action. The second vehicle was driven by the plaintiff and the third by the defendant.
All three drivers stopped at the traffic signal at 34th Avenue North. After the light turned green, they began moving forward. They had proceeded a short distance when the first vehicle stopped. The second vehicle hit the first vehicle and was in turn hit by the third vehicle. The plaintiff claims he suffered back injuries as a result of the accident and sued the defendant driver of the third vehicle.
Plaintiff testified that the first vehicle came to a stop "fairly bluntly"; that he then stopped behind that vehicle; that the third vehicle first hit him, and then pushed his vehicle into the rear end of the first vehicle. Plaintiff also testified that it all happened "simultaneously."
Defendant testified that as he moved through the intersection, he glanced off to the right, and then looked straight ahead and saw the second vehicle make a "sudden stop" in front of him.
The trial judge included the following in his oral charge to the jury:
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Salter v. Westra
...exercised under the same or similar circumstances." Kinard v. Carter, 518 So.2d 1248, 1250-51 (Ala.1987), quoting Williams v. Worthington, 386 So.2d 408, 409 (Ala.1980). The defendant in Kinard encountered a "gadget ... like a recap" lying in his lane of traffic and claimed that he had no t......
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...in such a dangerous position. The trial court's denial of Rollins's requested explanatory instruction was not error. In Williams v. Worthington, 386 So.2d 408 (Ala. 1980), this court in considering the "sudden emergency" charge found that APJI Civil, 28.15, the same charge given by the tria......
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...defendant was faced with a "sudden emergency."'" Nichols v. Elixer Indus., 613 So.2d 1259, 1260 (Ala.1993), quoting Williams v. Worthington, 386 So.2d 408, 409 (Ala.1980). The evidence indicates that the automobile accident that is the subject of this lawsuit occurred during the daylight ho......
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Bettis v. Thornton
... ... Employers Insurance Co. of Alabama, 521 So.2d 924 (Ala.1988); McKinney v. Alabama Power Co., 414 So.2d 938 (Ala.1982); Williams v. Worthington, ... 386 So.2d 408 (Ala.1980). If the jury has heard evidence from which it could conclude that there was a sudden emergency, then ... ...