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Yancey v. Lea8/17/2001
dant truck driver elected to pass the plaintiff's vehicle at the intersection of Highway 64 and Rural Paved Road 1416, ignoring and passing over double yellow lines prohibiting passing at that location and ignoring the working caution signal for the intersection, which should have alerted the defendant to the reason the plaintiff in Phillips had stopped at the intersection and to the possibility that she would be making a left turn.
In the case sub judice, the strongest evidence against defendant Lea, and really the sole basis for plaintiff's case for negligence, was the evidence of decedent's operative left-turn signal and defendant Lea's acknowledgment that he chose to pass, in a passing zone, although he could have stopped behind decedent's automobile and waited to determine what maneuver she was going to make. Although there was evidence to the contrary, plaintiff's evidence reflects an operative left-turn signal, which plaintiff contends defendant Lea either saw and chose to ignore or should have seen.
At best, this case presents a set of circumstances where virtually the sole evidence of negligence is that defendant Lea began to pass at or about the same time decedent had signaled her intent to turn left. When this evidence is considered in the light most favorable to plaintiff, and is tested in such light by this Court's definition of gross negligence and its past application in this state, it falls substantially short of manifesting any wicked purpose, or willful and wanton conduct in conscious and intentional disregard of the rights and safety of others. To conclude otherwise under the facts of this case would substantially blur the distinction this Court has established between gross and ordinary negligence. There was certainly no evidence here of any racing competition, any excessive speed, any intoxication, or any combination thereof. At most, the evidence, in the light most favorable to plaintiff, discloses a breach of defendant Lea's duty to exercise ordinary care.
We therefore hold that the trial court was entirely correct in granting defendants' motion for directed verdict as to plaintiff's claim of gross negligence and in refusing to instruct the jury on the issue of gross negligence. The opinion of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
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