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Vaughn v. Protective Ins. Co.

Decedent who rode in the back of a flatbed truck which crashed into an oncoming tractor trailer could not have assumed the risk of being hit by the tractor trailer which was being driven at an excessive speed and in a negligent manner.

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The jury returned a defense verdict in this tragic case arising out of an automobile accident that killed James Christopher Vaughn. His mother, as administrator of Vaughn’s estate, appeals the result on the grounds that the court should not have instructed the jury on assumption of the risk and that the trial court improperly refused to allow Mrs. Vaughn to question her expert witness about his prior employment by defense counsel. Because the facts did not raise the issue of assumption of the risk, we reverse.

On July 14, 1993, James and others were riding in the back of a flatbed farm truck that had faulty brakes when the truck was approaching a stop sign at an intersection with Highway 257. At the same time, Norman L. Austin was approaching the same intersection on Highway 257 driving a fully loaded tractor-trailer-weighing over 37 tons. The farm truck was unable to stop. When he was approximately 300 feet from the intersection, Austin, who did not know the farm truck was facing a stop sign, saw the truck entering the intersection, tried to stop, and left skid marks beginning approximately 45 feet from the point of impact—which means that because the braking tires are on the back of the tractor, the front of the tractor was only 30 feet from the farm truck when the skid began. Austin was unable to stop or steer around the truck and his vehicle demolished the back end of the farm truck killing James and another person who was riding in the back.1 The tractor came to a stop over 100 feet past the intersection, and the trailer went 86 feet farther than that.

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