Hurd v. Williamsburg County

611 S.E.2d 488, 363 S.C. 421, 2005 S.C. LEXIS 100
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 28, 2005
Docket25959
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 611 S.E.2d 488 (Hurd v. Williamsburg County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hurd v. Williamsburg County, 611 S.E.2d 488, 363 S.C. 421, 2005 S.C. LEXIS 100 (S.C. 2005).

Opinions

Justice BURNETT.

We granted a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals’ decision in Hurd v. Williamsburg County, 353 S.C. 596, 579 S.E.2d 136 (Ct.App.2003). We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEBURAL BACKGROUND

On February 1, 1996, Respondent (Hurd) was struck by an automobile after he exited a bus owned and operated by Petitioners Williamsburg County and the Williamsburg County Transit Authority (collectively referred to as the “Transit Authority”).

[425]*425At approximately 6:00 AM on February 1, 1996, Hurd boarded the bus in route to Myrtle Beach. The bus’ interim destination was a transfer station, known as a “Park and Ride,” where passengers could purchase tokens, board buses, and transfer to other locations. Before arriving at the Park and Ride, the bus stopped on the shoulder of the road across a two-lane highway from Mingo’s store, a gas station and restaurant. Hurd testified he was “half awake and half asleep” when the bus stopped. The stopping of the bus roused Hurd, whereupon he asked the bus driver where the disembarking passengers were going. The driver informed Hurd the passengers were going for breakfast at Mingo’s. Hurd stated he exited and walked to the rear of the bus, to join the other passengers, without any instructions from the driver.

Hurd testified the bus began to pull off the shoulder and into the highway as Hurd approached the highway. The bus was moving when Hurd stepped into the highway. Because Hurd was standing at the rear of the bus where the engine is located, he was not able to hear the oncoming car. Hurd testified he was unable to see the car because of the angle of the moving bus and stepped into the highway. The driver of the car stated he never saw Hurd prior to impact.

Respondent filed suit against Petitioners and the jury returned a verdict finding Hurd 42 percent at fault and the Transit Authority 58 percent at fault. The jury awarded Hurd $675,000 in damages. The trial court reduced the award of damages to $250,000 pursuant to the South Carolina Tort Claims Act (SCTCA). The Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict finding the trial court did not err in denying Transit Authority a directed verdict. Transit Authority appeals.

ISSUES

I. Did the Court of Appeals change the common law standard of negligence in determining the trial judge properly submitted the case to the jury?
II. Did the Court of Appeals err in concluding Hurd presented evidence allowing the inference that the Transit Authority’s actions were the proximate cause of the accident?
[426]*426III. Did the Court of Appeals err in concluding Hurd presented evidence Transit Authority’s negligence exceeded Hurd’s negligence?

LAW/ANALYSIS

When reviewing a ruling on a motion for directed verdict, we must view the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. F & D Elec. Contractors, Inc. v. Powder Coaters, Inc., 350 S.C. 454, 567 S.E.2d 842 (2002). If the evidence as a whole is susceptible of more than one reasonable inference, the trial judge must submit the case to the jury. Quesinberry v. Rouppasong, 331 S.C. 589, 503 S.E.2d 717 (1998). We will reverse the trial court if there is no evidence to support the trial court’s decision to submit the case to the jury. Steinke v. South Carolina Dep’t of Labor, Licensing & Regulation, 336 S.C. 373, 520 S.E.2d 142 (1999).

I.

Transit Authority argues the Court of Appeals erred in changing the common law standard of negligence from reasonable care to “best choice care” in concluding Transit Authority was not entitled to a directed verdict. Specifically, Transit Authority contends Hurd was let off in a position of reasonable safety and Hurd failed to present evidence establishing Transit Authority breached any duty of safety owed to Hurd. We disagree.

During the trial, Robert Roberts, an expert in the area of traffic engineering and traffic and pedestrian safety, testified it was unreasonable for the bus driver to discharge the passengers on the shoulder of Highway 41. Roberts also testified that the Park and Ride was a safety device, among other things. Booker T. Pressley, a former director of the Transit Authority, testified that chief among the concerns that led to the County’s construction of the Park and Ride was high traffic congestion. Pressley stated Transit Authority’s policy is to only let passengers off at the Park and Ride on Highway 41 because of the congestion. See Caldwell v. K-Mart Corp., 306 S.C. 27, 31-32, 410 S.E.2d 21, 24 (Ct.App.1991) (when defendant adopts internal policies or self-imposed [427]*427rules and thereafter violates those policies or rules, jury may consider such violations as evidence of negligence if they proximately caused a plaintiffs damages). Because more than one inference could be drawn from this evidence, we conclude the Court of Appeals correctly found the trial judge did not err in denying Transit Authority’s motion for directed verdict.1

The Court of Appeals did not heighten the standard of care in concluding Hurd presented evidence supporting his allegation that he was not discharged in a reasonably safe place. Instead, the Court of Appeals relied on this Court’s decision in Flynn v. Carolina Scenic Stages, 237 S.C. 340, 117 S.E.2d 364 (1960). In Flynn, this Court acknowledged that the relation of passenger and a common carrier ordinarily ends when the passenger steps from a bus into a reasonably safe place on a public highway. However, a carrier is not then wholly discharged of any duty whatsoever to such passenger. It still owes the duty of exercising ordinary care to see that after alighting safely the passenger is not in a position or situation as to be imperiled by the starting up of the bus. Flynn, 237 S.C. at 345, 117 S.E.2d 364 at 367. We conclude the trial judge properly submitted the case to the jury because Hurd presented evidence based on the facts of this case that the shoulder of the highway was not a reasonably safe place to allow Hurd to exit the bus.

II.

Transit Authority argues the Court of Appeals erred in concluding Hurd presented evidence that Transit Authority’s actions were the proximate cause of Hurd’s injuries. Transit Authority contends the side of the road where the bus discharged passengers departing for Mingo’s was a place of reasonable safety as a matter of law. We disagree.

In a negligence action the plaintiff must prove proximate cause. Rush v. Blanchard, 310 S.C. 375, 426 S.E.2d 802 (1993). “Ordinarily, the question of proximate [428]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
611 S.E.2d 488, 363 S.C. 421, 2005 S.C. LEXIS 100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hurd-v-williamsburg-county-sc-2005.