§ 28-15 Motor Vehicles - Sudden Emergency and Peril

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 28-15 Motor Vehicles - Sudden Emergency and Peril

A driver who, by the negligence of another and not by his own negligence, is suddenly placed in an emergency and compelled to act instantly to avoid a collision or an injury is not guilty of negligence if he makes a choice that a person of ordinary prudence placed in such a position might make, even though he did not make the wisest choice. In other words, where a motorist is suddenly placed in an emergency situation, through no fault of his own, and is compelled to act instantly to avoid a collision, he is not negligent if he makes a choice that a person of ordinary judgment might make if placed in the same emergency situation.

The conduct of one who has, without fault on his part, been confronted with a sudden emergency must be judged in the light of the emergency and not by what hindsight might show to have been a safer or more prudent course for him to have followed. This rule necessarily makes allowance for errors of judgment by a person who has been confronted with sudden emergency or peril, even though it might afterwards appear...