## Facts

- Jane Bartlett, driving with her husband Floyd Bartlett as a passenger, braked abruptly to avoid a lead car that signaled a right turn, entered a service station, and then rapidly pulled back onto the roadway.
- A truck owned by New Mexico Welding Supply, Inc. was traveling behind the Bartletts; its driver braked but skidded into the rear of the Bartletts’ car.
- The lead driver was never identified and was not joined as a party.
- The Bartletts sued the trucking company for negligence; the defendant asserted that the unknown lead driver caused or contributed to the accident.
- The jury found total damages of $100,000, with 0% fault to plaintiffs, 30% fault to the defendant, and 70% fault to the unknown lead driver, under instructions limiting defendant’s liability to its percentage of fault.

## Issues

1. In a pure comparative negligence system, whether a defendant is jointly and severally liable for all damages caused by concurrent tortfeasors.
2. Whether the fact finder may assign a percentage of fault to a nonparty concurrent tortfeasor, including an unknown driver, thereby limiting the defendant’s monetary liability to its allocated share.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals reversed the order granting a new trial.
- The court held that joint and several liability does not apply between concurrent tortfeasors under New Mexico’s pure comparative negligence regime.
- The court held that the jury may determine and allocate fault to a nonparty concurrent tortfeasor, including an unknown driver.
- The case was remanded with instructions to enter judgment against the defendant for 30% of $100,000 ($30,000).

## Legal Principles

- Under New Mexico pure comparative negligence, each concurrent tortfeasor is liable only for its proportionate share of damages, not the entire loss.
- A fact finder may apportion fault among all persons whose negligence contributed to the injury, even if a tortfeasor is not a party or cannot be identified.
- Allocation of fault to a nonparty reduces the defendant’s monetary responsibility to its percentage of fault and does not impose a collection-risk guaranty on the defendant through joint and several liability.

## Conclusion

New Mexico pure comparative negligence requires proportionate liability among concurrent tortfeasors, and it permits juries to assign fault to nonparty or unknown tortfeasors; therefore, the defendant’s liability was limited to its 30% share and the new-trial order was improper.


Bartlett v. N.M. Welding Supply, Inc., 98 N.M. 152, 646 P.2d 579 (Ct. App. 1982)