Danny Jermont Daniel died as a result of being struck by one or more motor vehicles while walking along an exit ramp on Georgia Highway 316 in Gwinnett County. Connie June Daniel, as Danny’s surviving spouse and administrator of his estate, sued Kelly Anne Gitaitis and Bobby Redmon, the drivers of the two vehicles involved in the incident. She also sued Redmon’s employer, Republic Services of Georgia, L. P., d/b/a United Waste Services Republic. Daniel asserted a claim for wrongful death, alleging that the negligence of Gitaitis and Redmon proximately caused her husband’s death; she further alleged that Republic, as Redmon’s employer, was vicariously liable for his negligence. A jury found in favor of Daniel and apportioned 42 percent of the liability for Danny’s death to Redmon and his employer. Redmon and Republic now appeal from the trial court’s order of judgment as well as the denial of their motion for judgment not on verdict, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to prove that any alleged negligence of Redmon proximately caused Danny’s death. For reasons explained more fully below, we agree and therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court.
On appeal from the denial of a motion for a directed verdict or for j.n.o.v., we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, and the standard of review is whether there is any evidence to support the jury’s verdict. Park v. Nichols, 307 Ga. App. 841, 845 2 706 SE2d 698 2011 citation and punctuation omitted. So viewed, the evidence shows that at approximately 5:00 a.m. on the morning of September 16, 2009, Danny was walking in or next to the roadway of the exit ramp from Georgia Highway 316 to Georgia Highway 120. At the time, Danny was dressed in dark green shorts and a black tee shirt. As Danny was traveling the exit ramp on foot, Gitaitis, driving a Chevrolet Tahoe, exited Highway 316 and proceeded along the ramp towards Highway 120. Gitaitis was followed by a Mack garbage truck owned by Republic and driven by Redmon. The portion of Highway 316 from which the exit ramp runs is a controlled access highway on which pedestrians are not allowed. There are no street lights present on the tree-lined exit ramp, and several witnesses, including the officers who investigated the accident, testified that there is no ambient lighting on the ramp from any nearby street signs. The evidence also showed that the exit ramp was particularly dark on the morning in question, as it was cloudy with either a mist or light rain falling.
