REED V. GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
773 F.2d 660 (5th Cir. 1985)
NATURE OF THE CASE: This was a personal injury action.
FACTS: On a Saturday night in May 1982, Reed, his wife, Patricia Loretta, his mother, and
his brother were on Interstate 10 in Reed's Chevy Monza. Near Lafayette, La., his mother
began to suffer from cramps and Reed pulled over to adjust her seat and ease her comfort.
The car was parked on the right shoulder of the highway with its blinkers on when it was
violently struck in the rear by a Pontiac Trans Am driven by Brent Boudreaux. All of the
passengers in the car were seriously injured. At the time of the accident, Brent and his
friend, John Fontenot, were returning home to Kaplan when they were passed by a pickup
driven by a Gerard Meche on the right shoulder of the road and at a high rate of speed.
Brent, with John's encouragement, followed the pickup onto the shoulder and at speeds of up
to 90 miles per hour, the race was on. At times Brent's car had passed Meche. When they came
upon Reed's car Meche was able to return to the road in time but Brent was not so lucky nor
was the passenger of Reed's car. At trial, the jury awarded the verdict in favor of all of
the Ps against all of the Ds. Damages awarded were $470,000 with 70% of the fault to Brent
and 30% of the fault to Meche. During trial, Brent sought to introduce evidence of the
limits of his insurance policy being $5000 per person and $10,000 per accident. This was
done under the Louisiana inability to pay doctrine. The Court then allowed evidence of
Meche's coverage at $500,000.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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