Foster v. Strutz

Strutz and Akrum (defendants) were attacked by assailants while sitting in a parked car; during the attack, an assailant knocked the gearshift into reverse, and Strutz, believing the car was in drive, hit the accelerator, causing the car to move backward and crush the foot of Foster (plaintiff), who was trying to escape into her own truck. Foster sued for negligence. At trial, the defendants requested the more lenient sudden-emergency jury instruction instead of the ordinary reasonable-person standard; the district court refused, finding no sudden emergency, but the court of appeals reversed, holding the instruction should have been given.