Summary
holding that the doctrine of last clear chance is not valid with the adoption of the comparative liability statute
Summary of this case from GLF CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION v. LAN/STVOpinion
No. B-7810.
October 4, 1978. Rehearing Denied November 1, 1978.
Appeal from the District Court, Travis County, Hume Cofer, J.
Flahive Ogden, T. P. Flahive, Austin, for petitioner.
Kilpatrick, Grant, Dennis Reed, Ben Z. Grant, Marshall, Kidd Whitehurst, Mack Kidd and Thomas R. Harkness, Austin, for respondent.
Judgment was rendered for plaintiff on the jury verdict in this suit for damages sustained when plaintiff's motorcycle struck defendant's automobile which turned across plaintiff's traffic lane. The court of civil appeals affirmed. 567 S.W.2d 604.
Defendant complains of the trial court's refusal to submit his requested issues tendering the theory of last clear chance. We agree with the holding of the court of civil appeals that the trial court did not err in this refusal. Since the advent of comparative negligence with the adoption of Art. 2212a, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., this Court has sought to abolish those doctrines directed to the old choice between total victory and total defeat for the injured plaintiff. Davila v. Sanders, 557 S.W.2d 770 (Tex. 1977). The doctrine of last clear chance or discovered peril fits that category and it is abolished as an issue or instruction.
The application for writ of error is refused, no reversible error.