Clinton v. Hanson

SHORES, Justice.

The only issue presented in this appeal is whether the trial judge erred in granting the plaintiffs’ motion for new trial after a jury verdict in favor of the defendant. We hold that he did not and affirm.

Calvin and Mary Lou Hanson were travelling north on U.S. 280 on Labor Day, 1979, at about 5:00 p.m. It was raining hard. As Mr. Hanson crested Double Oak Mountain, he saw ten or twelve cars backed up because of an accident ahead. He stopped about two car lengths beyond the last car. Mr. Clinton was also driving north on U.S. 280. He testified that he had been following the…