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Buel v. Sims3/15/2001
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 12/29/1999
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. KOSTA N. VLAHOS
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HARRISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 03/15/2001
. Debora K. Buel sued Percy B. Sims and his employer, Air Liquide America Corporation, for injuries she suffered in an automobile accident where she collided with an Air Liquide truck driven by Sims. Buel claims that Sims was negligent in failing to yield the right of way, keep a proper look out and control his truck.
. Prior to trial, Buel filed a motion in limine seeking to bar evidence of her consumption of alcohol, specifically hospital test results, until Sims and Air Liquide had proven her consumption of alcohol contributed to or caused the accident. Buel also sought through an additional motion in limine to prohibit introduction of her medical records and alleged blood sample results until Sims and Air Liquide established the proper chain of custody and proper witnesses testified to sponsor the evidence offered. Both motions were denied by the trial court.
. At the request of Sims and Air Liquide, jury instruction D-6 was given instructing the jury to find Buel negligent as a matter of law in operating her vehicle at a time when she had a blood alcohol level greater than 100. In granting jury instruction D-6, the trial court took judicial notice of number conversions for determining Buel's blood alcohol level. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Sims and Air Liquide, judgment was entered accordingly, and Buel appealed. Sims and Air Liquide filed a cross-appeal, assigning as error the trial court's failure to grant them a directed verdict for which we find no merit and do not address. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
STATEMENT OF CASE AND FACTS
. One Saturday evening in March of 1997, Buel and friends attended a hockey game on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, at which Buel admitted to consuming several sixteen-ounce cans of beer. After the game ended, Buel proceeded to drive herself home. From the hockey game, Buel traveled north on Menge Avenue. As she crested the I-10 overpass, she saw Sims' 18-wheeler pulling out of a parking lot to turn north onto Menge Avenue.
. Buel took no evasive action, assuming the 18-wheeler would be out of her lane of traffic before she arrived. Buel admitted she could have stopped before reaching the truck had she begun to slow down when she initially saw Sims. As Buel got closer to the truck, she realized that it would not clear her lane in time and that she was not going to be able to stop. Once she realized she could not avoid the collision, Buel applied her brakes, slipped off her shoulder belt and lay across the seat to avoid being decapitated. Buel's car collided with the truck driven by Sims.
. On the evening of the accident, Sims, the truck driver, was returning to his home in Louisiana, after making a delivery. Sims stopped at a truck stop on Menge Avenue to refuel and for a routine coffee break. After his break, Sims conducted a pre-trip safety inspection and ascertained that all of his lights were working. As Sims' trailer had been washed on the morning of the accident, the reflective strips running the length of the trailer would have been clearly visible to approaching motorists.
. Traffic on Menge Avenue was very congested on the evening of the accident, forcing Sims to wait several minutes for traffic to clear before pulling onto Menge Avenue. As Sims began his turn onto Menge Avenue, Buel's vehicle first appeared over the crest of Menge Avenue, approaching at a high rate of speed and not slo
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