Court reviews whether the trial court properly ruled that defendant negated the element of proximate cause in an automobile accident case

TIMOTHY A. MOORE v. HUGH A. BUTLER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS AGENT AND SERVANT OF ANTHONY WOMMACK d/b/a WOMMACK TRUCKING, AND ANTHONY WOMMACK d/b/a WOMMACK TRUCKING, AND McCOY'S HEATING & AIR, INC. (Tenn. Ct. App. December 1, 2011)

This appeal involves summary judgment in a vehicular accident case. In a line of vehicles, the defendant service vehicle was first, followed by the plaintiff's tractor-trailer, and then by the co-defendant's tractor-trailer. The defendant's service vehicle allegedly made a left turn without braking or using a turn signal, forcing the plaintiff's tractor-trailer to brake quickly. This resulted in the co-defendant's tractor-trailer rear-ending the plaintiff's tractor-trailer.

The plaintiff filed a personal injury lawsuit against the defendant tractor-trailer for rear-ending him, and against the defendant service vehicle that turned in front of him. The defendant service vehicle owner filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the motion, finding that the defendant service vehicle owner had negated the element of proximate cause. The defendant tractor-trailer owner appeals. We reverse under the summary judgment standard in Hannan v. Alltel Publ'g Co., 270 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2008).

Opinion available at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/mooret_.pdf