unavoidable accident instruction in Utah

1993In Kusy v. K-Mart Apparel Fashion Corp., 681 P.2d 1232 (Utah 1984), the Utah Supreme Court’s most recent pronouncement on the permissibility of an unavoidable accident instruction, the Court held that “[t]he instruction should only be given if the evidence could be interpreted as showing that this was an unusual and unexpected occurrence ‘which result[s] in injury and which happen[s] without anyone failing to exercise reasonable care.’ ” Id. at 1237 (emphasis added) (quoting Wood-house, 436 P.2d at 445 ).

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

1993See Stringham v. Broderick, 529 P.2d 425, 426 (Utah 1974).

1993See id.

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

2001To support his position that instruction 385 was not an unavoidable accident instruction, Louder relies on language taken from a footnote 4 in Anderson v. Sharp, 899 P.2d 1245, 1249 (Utah Ct.App.1995). 1 16 In Randle, this court disapproved of the following instruction: In the law we recognize what we term as unavoidable or inevitable accidents.

1995The Court disallowed the use of the unavoidable accident instruction because it believed the instruction had “substantial potential for confusing and misleading the jury.” Id. at 1335 .

1995Specifically, Anderson complains of the following language contained within the instruction: "The mere fact that the event complained of occurred does not support an inference that any party to this action was negligent.” However, unlike the unavoidable accident instruction that tends to mislead the jury by emphasizing the defendant's theory of the case, see Randle v. Allen, 862 P.2d 1329, 1335 (Utah 1993), this instruction, taken from Model Utah Jury Instruction 3.3, raises no inference in favor of a verdict for either party.

1993See Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (“It is true that [an unavoidable accident] instruction amounts, in essence, to a reem-phasis of principles already implicit in other instructions.”); Wellman v. Noble, 12 Utah 2d 350 , 366 P.2d 701, 702 (1961) (an unavoidable accident instruction “in most cases is superfluous in view of the other instructions which are given covering the basic issues in accident cases”).

1993See Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (“It is true that [an unavoidable accident] instruction amounts, in essence, to a reem-phasis of principles already implicit in other instructions.”); Wellman v. Noble, 12 Utah 2d 350 , 366 P.2d 701, 702 (1961) (an unavoidable accident instruction “in most cases is superfluous in view of the other instructions which are given covering the basic issues in accident cases”).

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

1993See Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (“It is true that [an unavoidable accident] instruction amounts, in essence, to a reem-phasis of principles already implicit in other instructions.”); Wellman v. Noble, 12 Utah 2d 350 , 366 P.2d 701, 702 (1961) (an unavoidable accident instruction “in most cases is superfluous in view of the other instructions which are given covering the basic issues in accident cases”).

1993In upholding the trial court’s submission of an unavoidable accident instruction, the Utah Supreme Court held that the submission of such an instruction is not error “[w]here the injury arises from a set of circumstances which do not reflect a lack of due care on anyone’s part.” Id. at 834 .

1993In Kusy v. K-Mart Apparel Fashion Corp., 681 P.2d 1232 (Utah 1984), the Utah Supreme Court’s most recent pronouncement on the permissibility of an unavoidable accident instruction, the Court held that “[t]he instruction should only be given if the evidence could be interpreted as showing that this was an unusual and unexpected occurrence ‘which result[s] in injury and which happen[s] without anyone failing to exercise reasonable care.’ ” Id. at 1237 (emphasis added) (quoting Wood-house, 436 P.2d at 445 ).

1993In Kusy v. K-Mart Apparel Fashion Corp., 681 P.2d 1232 (Utah 1984), the Utah Supreme Court’s most recent pronouncement on the permissibility of an unavoidable accident instruction, the Court held that “[t]he instruction should only be given if the evidence could be interpreted as showing that this was an unusual and unexpected occurrence ‘which result[s] in injury and which happen[s] without anyone failing to exercise reasonable care.’ ” Id. at 1237 (emphasis added) (quoting Wood-house, 436 P.2d at 445 ).

1993The Court further held that “an unavoidable accident instruction is not error if it clearly and concisely states the principle involved, and does not create an imbalance in the jury instructions.” Id. at 835 . *473 In Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170 (Utah 1983), a passenger brought an action against the driver for injuries incurred in an accident while riding in a dune buggy.

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec

1993See, e.g., Anderson v. Toone, 671 P.2d 170, 175 (Utah 1983) (“whether the giving of an instruction constitutes reversible error must be determined by whether all the instructions read in harmony fairly presented to the jury in a clear and understandable way the issues of fact and applicable law”); Anderton v. Montgomery, 607 P.2d 828, 834 (Utah 1980) (Giving an unavoidable accident instruction “in and of itself, is not prejudicial, however, unless it results in the instructions given being weighted, as a whole, in favor of the defendant.”); Calahan, 465 P.2d at 171 (“A survey of the entire rec