Smith v. Blankenship

This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of the defendant.

Plaintiff, Audrey F. Smith, was a passenger in the front seat of a car owned and driven by her mother. While stopped at a red light, that car was bumped from the rear by a car driven by the defendant, Archie L. Blankenship. Smith sued Blankenship, alleging that, as a result of the automobile accident, she had developed rheumatoid arthritis of the cervical spine.

At trial, Smith testified that, directly after the accident, she felt pain in her neck, but did not wish to go to the hospital. She…