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Teems v. Bates

Evidence showed that the plaintiff voluntarily undertook an obviously dangerous activity when she rode on top of a moving car.

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Janna Teems fell and was severely injured while riding on the top of a moving car driven by her teenage friend, Matthew Bates. Teems and her parents subsequently brought this negligence action against Bates for damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Bates. On appeal, Teems and her parents contend that the trial court erred in charging the jury on the assumption of the risk doctrine and on the duty imposed upon a guest passenger. They further contend that the trial court erred in allowing defense counsel to cross-examine Teems’s father about his own experience holding onto a moving car and to elicit his opinion as to whether he or the driver in that incident was more at fault. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. Following a jury trial, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. DuBois v. Ray , 177 Ga. App. 349 339 SE2d 605 1985.1 So viewed, the evidence showed that at approximately 11:00 p. m., Janna Teems, Matthew Bates, and Julia Mercurio drove to a church parking lot. The three were close teenage friends who often spent time together, and they met at the parking lot out of boredom. After they arrived there, Teems came up with the idea of “car surfing” on the top of Mercurio’s car. Car surfing is the act of riding on the outside of a vehicle as it is moving. Mercurio and Bates agreed to Teems’s idea.

Teems then rode around the parking lot while lying on the top of Mercurio’s moving car. Bates watched from his own car. After completing the ride, Teems and Mercurio were exhilarated and were laughing as they approached Bates.

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