Mary Nell Phillips v. James Travis Seward and Heartland Express, Inc.

Summary

The court held that the evidence permitted the jury to find that the truck driver acted reasonably, so the plaintiff was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law on negligence or liability. However, the defendants presented no substantial evidence that the plaintiff acted negligently, and the trial court therefore prejudicially erred by instructing the jury on contributory negligence. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial. Justice Woodall, concurring in the result, agreed that the contributory-negligence instruction was erroneous because the record contained no evidence that the plaintiff made a sudden stop or was otherwise negligent.