Jury Instruction Error Regarding the Sole Proximate Cause to a Car Accident

In Graves v. Wornson, 56 Ill. App. 3d 873, 879-80, 371 N.E.2d 692, 13 Ill. Dec. 757 (1978), the defendants argued that the sole proximate cause of an accident was an oncoming truck that created an emergency situation by attempting to pass vehicles when it had insufficient space to do so. The Third District of this court reversed the judgment of the trial court for the defendants, finding the use of the long form of the instruction was not supported by the record. The court opined that the record indicated that the passing truck was able to safely return to its own lane of travel before the defendants reached it and no emergency situation was created. Therefore, it found there was no sole proximate cause of injury and it was reversible error to instruct the jury regarding sole proximate cause. Graves, 56 Ill. App. 3d at 879-80.Ill.