Cofield v. Nuckles

387 S.E.2d 493, 239 Va. 186, 6 Va. Law Rep. 1150, 1990 Va. LEXIS 4
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedJanuary 12, 1990
DocketRecord 881265; Record 881290
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 387 S.E.2d 493 (Cofield v. Nuckles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cofield v. Nuckles, 387 S.E.2d 493, 239 Va. 186, 6 Va. Law Rep. 1150, 1990 Va. LEXIS 4 (Va. 1990).

Opinions

JUSTICE LACY

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The accident which gave rise to this cause of action occurred December 7, 1984, on Warwick Boulevard in Newport News, during rush-hour traffic. Warwick is a four-lane, east-west, one-way street. The northernmost lane, or curb lane, is delineated by a solid white line while the other three lanes are separated by broken lines. Charles A. Nuckles, Jr. and a co-worker were walking eastbound on the sidewalk along the south side of Warwick. To meet their ride home from work, they had to cross the street.

When Nuckles reached the intersection of Warwick and 47th Street, stopped vehicles blocked the pedestrian crosswalk across Warwick in all three travel lanes. Nuckles began to cross Warwick behind the second vehicle stopped in each of the lanes. He successfully crossed the first two lanes but his path was blocked in the third lane. Nuckles found an opening in front of the fourth vehicle in the third lane, a van driven by Horace A. Hurdle.

Nuckles stopped in front of the Hurdle van. Hurdle gave Nuckles three waving hand signals, and Nuckles proceeded to cross in front of the van. As he stepped beyond the van, he was struck by another van traveling west in the curb lane. The second van was driven by Shelton L. Cofield.

Nuckles brought this suit against Hurdle and Cofield to recover damages for injuries sustained as a result of the accident. At the conclusion of all the evidence, the trial court, holding that the curb lane was not a travel lane, instructed the jury that Cofield was negligent as a matter of law. The jury returned a verdict of $175,000 against both Cofield and Hurdle, upon which the trial court entered judgment.

[189]*189On appeal, Cofield and Hurdle assign error to a number of the trial court’s rulings. We will consider each assignment as it pertains to the actions of each party. We view the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, Nuckles.

I. Nuckles

Cofield and Hurdle maintain that the trial court erred by refusing to hold that Nuckles was negligent as a matter of law because he violated statutory provisions relating to pedestrians. Specifically, Cofield and Hurdle cite former Code § 46.1-230(a) (1986 Repl. Vol.)1 which states in pertinent part:

When crossing highways or streets, pedestrians shall not carelessly or maliciously interfere with the orderly passage of vehicles. They shall cross wherever possible only at intersections or marked crosswalks.

Under this statute, they argue Nuckles’ failure to use the marked intersection constitutes negligence per se. Furthermore, Cofield asserts that Nuckles crossed the street in a manner which “carelessly or maliciously interfered with the orderly passage of vehicles,” and violated the portion of former § 46.1-231(b) (1986 Repl. Vol.)2 which prohibited a pedestrian from entering or crossing “an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic.”

The evidence showed that bumper-to-bumper traffic on Warwick Boulevard was stopped and that it blocked the intersection Nuckles wished to use. He did not step into moving traffic when he began to cross the street. Even after Nuckles received the hand signals from Hurdle, he slowed his gait and attempted to look for approaching traffic while he stepped into the curb lane. This evidence presented a proper jury question regarding whether it was possible for Nuckles to cross at the intersection and whether his action disregarded traffic or carelessly or maliciously interfered with it.

Cofield also asserts that Nuckles violated former Code § 46.1-232 (1986 Repl. Vol.)3 which states:

[190]*190Pedestrians shall not step into that portion of a highway or street open to moving vehicular traffic at any point between intersections where their presence would be obscured from the vision of drivers of approaching vehicles by a vehicle or other obstruction at the curb or side, except to board a passenger bus or to enter a safety zone, in which event they shall cross the highway or street only at right angles.

This section applied to a pedestrian who stepped from an obscured position at the curb or side of the road into moving traffic. It is inapplicable here, where Nuckles initially stepped from a position where he could be seen by oncoming vehicles into stationary traffic stopped at a red light.

Based on the evidence presented, the trial court correctly refused to find Nuckles negligent as a matter of law for violation of former §§ 46.1-230, 46.1-231 (b), or 46.1-232, and correctly declined to grant Instruction 22A.4

Cofield also contends that Nuckles was negligent as a matter of law for failure to keep a proper lookout. Cofield points to the principle that if a pedestrian crosses a busy street “without looking, or, if looking, fails to see or heed traffic that is obvious and in dangerous proximity and continues on into its path, he is guilty of negligence as a matter of law.” Hooker v. Hancock, 188 Va. 345, 356, 49 S.E.2d 711, 716 (1948). See also Bryan v. Fewell, 191 Va. 647, 62 S.E.2d 39 (1950).

Nuckles’ testimony indicated that he was aware of the location and movement of the traffic prior to and while he crossed the street. When he crossed in front of Hurdle’s van he “slowed down to a slow gate [sic] ... to look to my right but I never got to look.” Three other witnesses testified that Nuckles attempted to look for traffic approaching in the curb lane. Based on this evidence, whether Nuckles failed to keep a proper lookout, and whether Nuckles saw Cofield’s van approaching or was in a position to do so yet proceeded into its path, were issues for the jury.

[191]*191Hurdle and Cofield complain that, if Nuckles’ negligence was a jury issue, the trial court erred when it struck the second sentence of Instruction 18A. As proposed, that instruction read in its entirety:

A pedestrian crossing a highway is required to exercise such care as an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under the existing circumstances. If under such circumstances he undertakes to cross without looking, or if looking, fails to see or heed traffic that is obvious and in dangerous proximity, and continues on in its path, then he is negligent.

This instruction is based on Hooker, supra, and is not inappropriate; however, a court is not required to give instructions that are repetitious. See Cook v. Basnight, 207 Va. 491, 497, 151 S.E.2d 408, 412 (1966); Norfolk & W. R. Co. v. Birchfield, 105 Va. 809, 814-15, 54 S.E. 879, 881 (1906). The instructions, taken as a whole, sufficiently instructed the jury on the duty to keep a proper lookout. See, e.g., Instruction 20.5

Finally, Cofield contends that Nuckles “assumed the risk” by the manner in which he crossed Warwick Boulevard and that the trial court erred in refusing to submit this issue to the jury. The “essence” of assumption of risk is venturousness. Arrington, Adm’r v. Graham, Adm’r, 203 Va.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
387 S.E.2d 493, 239 Va. 186, 6 Va. Law Rep. 1150, 1990 Va. LEXIS 4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cofield-v-nuckles-va-1990.