## Facts

- During an October snowfall on Highway 55, Douglas Ivan Lincoln drove southbound in a two-wheel-drive pickup with new tires, in excellent condition, and with weight in the bed.
- Road conditions were fairly clear earlier in the trip but were slick on Highway 55.
- Lincoln drove at a steady 40–50 mph when the rear of his pickup suddenly slid left toward the centerline.
- Lincoln did not brake and attempted to steer into the slide, but the pickup crossed the centerline at an angle and collided with a northbound vehicle occupied by Louis and Vonda Teply and their daughter, Sondra Bryant.
- The Teplys alleged Lincoln violated Idaho “rules of the road” statutes requiring drivers to remain on the right side and pass opposing traffic to the right, constituting negligence per se.

## Issues

1. Whether a driver who skids on unexpectedly icy roads and crosses the centerline is legally excused from compliance with safety statutes requiring travel on the right-hand side of the highway.
2. Whether the jury was improperly instructed that icy conditions could excuse a statutory violation, permitting a verdict of no negligence despite an unexcused violation.

## Decision

- The Idaho Court of Appeals reversed the judgment entered on the defense verdict.
- The court held Lincoln’s statutory violation (crossing the centerline) was not legally excused by icy road conditions and a resulting skid.
- The court ruled the excuse instruction improperly allowed the jury to treat icy conditions as a legal excuse beyond what Idaho law permits.
- The court set aside the jury’s no-negligence verdict and remanded for further proceedings to determine damages resulting from Lincoln’s negligence per se.

## Legal Principles

- Violation of a highway safety statute designed to prevent the type of harm suffered by a protected class constitutes negligence per se.
- Under Idaho law, “legal excuse” for a statutory violation is narrowly limited; generalized adverse road conditions and skidding, without more, do not excuse crossing the centerline.
- When an instruction permits a jury to find a legal excuse not recognized by controlling precedent, a defense verdict resting on that excuse cannot stand.

## Conclusion

The court held that Lincoln’s crossing the centerline in slick winter conditions was negligence per se and not legally excused by the skid, requiring reversal of the no-negligence verdict and remand for a damages determination.


Teply v. Lincoln, 125 Idaho 773, 874 P.2d 584 (Idaho Ct. App. 1994)