Gibbs v. Jackson

This case considers the creation of a new common-law duty to keep horses from roaming onto farm-to-market roads in areas that have not adopted local stock laws. For the reasons given below, we decline to create that common-law duty. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and render judgment that Jackson take nothing.

I

Shannon Jackson was driving her car on Farm-to-Market Road 49 in rural Upshur County when she collided with a horse named Tiny that was standing in the road. The collision injured Jackson, totaled her automobile, and killed Tiny. Jackson sued Naomi Gibbs, who had…