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Kersey v. Ruch Trucking12/1/2003
ion occurred as well-traveled, and he testified that the typical coefficient of friction range for well-traveled pavement is 0.55 to 0.70. According to the spreadsheets Cohn generated, using a value of 0.55 for the coefficient of friction, the lowest typical value for well-traveled roads, the truck would have been traveling 68.287 feet per second preskid. Converting that number to miles per hour yields a speed of 46.559 miles per hour. Using a value of 0.70 for the coefficient of friction, the highest typical value for well-traveled roads, the truck would have been traveling 77.153 feet per second. Converting that number to miles per hour yields a speed of 52.604 miles per hour. Thus, operating under Cohn's assumptions, the truck was traveling between 46.559 and 52.604 miles per hour just before it started to skid.
Ultimately, however, Cohn concluded that the evidence was consistent with the truck traveling a speed "at or below the posted limit of 45 miles per hour." Cohn explained his conclusion as follows:
"Well, I don't remember if or where I said this, but, again, from the articles here, you see that for trucks, coefficients of trucks are lower. They are lower -- I should have -- what's the right word you use? I should have derated the values of coefficient of friction I use because it's a truck we are talking about. And if those coefficients are lower, then considering also, the response time that would be required for what Office Moore asserts happened happening , it seems unlikely to me that it all could have happened with the truck -- the way it did with the truck going at the speed it's claimed to have been going, but a speed below the limit would be more * reasonable."
When Cohn was asked later on what he based his opinion that the truck was moving at 45 miles per hour or below, Cohn responded:
"Based on, first, that I have a hard time accepting a coefficient of friction as high as was measured. The other points that I've tried to make here see, to indicate to me that there is some question about Officer Moore's analysis, but I think that the evidence would be more consistent with a lower speed. I just think it's more likely that that happened."
We note, however, that the jury also heard testimony from Moore that the 25% reduction to the coefficient of friction should not have been applied in this case because of the manner in which the truck was moving. The jury also heard Moore's explanation regarding the high value he obtained for the coefficient of friction. Obviously, if the jury chose to believe Moore's explanations, the unfavorable nature of Cohn's testimony is readily apparent: Cohn's testimony supported plaintiff's theory that Lyle was driving above the posted speed limit at the time of the collision. See Van Steemburg v. General Aviation, Inc., 243 Ill. App. 3d 299, 320 (1993) (holding that where the defendant failed to call its witness, and the plaintiff's expert's testimony was not comparable to the defendant's expert's testimony, missing-witness instruction should have been given).
Defendants now claim that the spreadsheets generated by Cohn were merely charts "showing what speeds would result for skid marks of a given length at different coefficients of friction." We fail to see the relevance of this argument. Moore testified that in calculating the speed of the vehicle using the slide-to-stop test, the two variables are the coefficient of friction and the length of the skid mark. In this case, Moore measured the length of the skid mark. Although varying the length of the skid mark would have undoubtedly altered the speed calculations, defendants offered no testimony that the length of the skid mark as measured by Mo
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