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Grandstaff v. Hawks5/31/2000
51.02, and it can raise this issue on appeal.
B.
After all the parties rested, Ms. Grandstaff requested a directed verdict because neither Mr. Forrest nor Mr. Hawks had presented evidence that she was in any way responsible for the collision. In his opposition to the motion, Mr. Hawks asserted that Ms. Grandstaff should remain in the case because of the duty she owed to herself to exercise reasonable care for her own safety. Accordingly, the trial court instructed the jury that
a passenger in a motor vehicle has a duty to use the care that a reasonable person riding under similar circumstances would use. A passenger has a duty to take positive measures to protect himself from danger only when it is apparent that she can no longer rely upon the driver for protection, as when the driver by his conduct shows that he is incompetent to drive or when the driver is unmindful of or does not know of a danger known to the passenger, and then only if the passenger becomes aware of the danger at a time and under circumstances when she could have prevented the harm.
The motor vehicle in which the passenger in this case was riding at the time of the accident was being driven by Mr. Forrest. With respect to the claim of Mrs. Grandstaff against Mr. Forrest and Mr. Hawks, any negligence on the part of the driver Mr. Forrest is not chargeable to her.
Thereafter, the trial court instructed the jury to assign a percentage of fault, if any, to any or all of the parties, with the total equaling one hundred percent. To assist the jury, the trial court provided a verdict form containing two questions. The first question was "Considering all the fault at 100%, what percentage of the total fault is chargeable to each of the following persons?" Following the question, the form listed Mr. Forrest, Mr. Hawks, and Ms. Grandstaff and provided a blank for filling in the percentage of fault allocated to each. The second question was "Without considering the percentage of fault in Question 1, whay total amount of damages, if any, do you find were sustained by the following parties." The form again listed the names of Mr. Forrest, Mr. Hawks, and Ms. Grandstaff followed by lines where their damages could be written.
Acting in accordance with the trial court's instructions, the jury allocated 49% of the fault to Mr. Hawks, 49% of the fault to Mr. Forrest, and 2% of the fault to Ms. Grandstaff and filled in the blanks on the verdict form accordingly. The jury also determined that Mr. Forrest's damages were $140,288.28, that Mr. Hawks' damages were $207,277.68, and that Ms. Grandstaff's damages were $138,218.37 and included these amounts on the verdict form.
C.
The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted the current modified comparative fault scheme in McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (Tenn. 1992). Its intention was to abolish "the out-dated doctrine of contributory negligence," Turner v. Jordan, 957 S.W.2d 815, 821 (Tenn. 1997), and to replace it with a set of principles that would (1) enable plaintiffs to recover fully for their injuries, (2) fairly allocate the liability among the defendants, (3) conserve judicial resources, and (4) eliminate inconsistent judgments. See Samuelson v. McMurtry, 962 S.W.2d 473, 476 (Tenn. 1998). Thus, as the Court frequently reminds us, the conceptual underpinnings of its modified comparative fault scheme are fairness, consistency, and efficiency. See, e.g., White v. Lawrence, 975 S.W.2d 525, 532 (Tenn. 1998); Coln v. City of Savannah, 966 S.W.2d 34, 40 (Tenn. 1998); Owens v. Truckstops of Am., 915 S.W.2d 420, 424 (Tenn. 1996).
The comparative fault scheme was a work-in-progress when it was first ordaine
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