## Facts

- National Convoy & Trucking Co.’s trucks stalled on an icy South Carolina highway and blocked the roadway completely.
- The trucks were stopped just below the crest of a hill on an icy downgrade, limiting visibility for approaching motorists until they reached the crest.
- For approximately fifteen minutes before the collision, the truck drivers knew or should have known that oncoming vehicles would have difficulty stopping once they came over the hill due to ice.
- The drivers had time to place a warning or flagman at the crest of the hill where approaching cars could still stop, but no warning of any kind was placed there.
- Bessie G. Montgomery was a passenger in a car driven by her chauffeur; after cresting the hill, the car could not stop in time and collided with the stalled trucks.
- Montgomery sued for negligence based on the failure to provide adequate warning; a jury awarded $3,000, and the trial court denied the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict.

## Issues

1. Whether a party that creates or maintains a hazardous highway obstruction may be liable in negligence for an omission—failing to provide adequate warning—when the omission proximately causes injury.
2. Whether icy conditions and the stalling of the trucks constituted an act of God that relieved the defendant of liability.
3. Whether contributory negligence by Montgomery’s chauffeur barred recovery as a matter of law.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed the judgment for Montgomery.
- The court held the evidence supported a finding that the defendant had a duty to warn approaching motorists and breached that duty by failing to place an effective warning at the hill crest.
- The court rejected the act of God defense because natural conditions do not relieve liability when human negligence is also a proximate cause.
- The court declined to disturb the verdict on contributory negligence, treating it as a jury question on this record.

## Legal Principles

- Negligence may arise from omission as well as commission; liability attaches when the breach of a duty to act is a direct and proximate cause of injury.
- A party that creates or controls a dangerous obstruction on a public highway must use reasonable care to protect other lawful users, including providing timely and effective warnings when necessary.
- The act of God defense applies only when the natural event is the sole cause of the injury; it does not apply when defendant’s negligence combines with natural conditions to cause harm.
- Contributory negligence is not established as a matter of law where reasonable factfinders could conclude the plaintiff (or driver) acted with due care under the circumstances.

## Conclusion

The court sustained a negligence verdict against a trucking company whose stalled vehicles blocked an icy hill descent because the company failed to provide an effective warning at a location where approaching motorists could still stop; natural road conditions did not excuse liability where the failure to warn also proximately caused the collision.


Montgomery v. National Convoy & Trucking Co., 186 S.C. 167, 195 S.E. 247 (S.C. 1938)