Ankney v. Hall

HODGES, Justice.

The issue presented by this case is whether the trial court committed prejudicial reversible error by instructing the jury on “unavoidable accident.” The Court of Appeals found the instruction unnecessary and erroneous, but determined that no reversible error of law occurred. We grant certiorari and hold that the “unavoidable accident” instruction was prejudicial reversible error under the facts of this case.

On the afternoon of June 11, 1982, decedent, John W. Hall, was driving west in the inside lane of the Turner Turnpike in a 1979 Ford Fairmont owned by his employer, the…