Pipher v. Parsell
Delaware Supreme Court
930 A.2d 890 (2007)
Pipher (plaintiff) sat between the driver, Parsell (defendant), and another passenger, Beisel, in a truck traveling 55 mph when Beisel unexpectedly grabbed the steering wheel once, causing the truck to veer onto the shoulder; roughly thirty seconds later, with Parsell having done nothing in response to the first incident, Beisel grabbed the wheel again, this time sending the truck off the road into a tree and injuring Pipher. At trial, Parsell admitted he could have warned or threatened to remove Beisel after the first grab, but the trial court held a reasonable driver wouldn't expect a second grab, finding no duty to admonish Beisel and no proximate cause as a matter of law, and dismissed Pipher's claims.
Whether a driver may be found liable for negligence toward a passenger where the risk of the harm-causing conduct — here, a second grab of the steering wheel by another passenger — was reasonably foreseeable.