AMI 1202 Highway Contractor—Duty to Maintain Safe Passage
Ark. Model Jury Instr., Civil AMI 1202
Arkansas Model Jury Instructions-Civil
December 2023 Update
Chapter 12. Construction
AMI 1202 Highway Contractor—Duty to Maintain Safe Passage
It was the duty of (defendant) in the performance of the construction work to use ordinary care to provide for the safety of the traveling public and to give reasonable warning to travelers of any hazards created by [his][her] activities. [It was also the duty of (defendant) to use ordinary care to comply with the provisions of [his][her] contract with that were inserted for the safety of the public.]
NOTE ON USE
The bracketed phrase may be used when duties are imposed by contract upon a contractor for the safety of the public.
COMMENT
The first sentence of the instruction is based on an instruction approved in Hill v. Whitney, 213 Ark. 368, 210 S.W.2d 800 (1948), and McGeorge Contracting Co. v. Mizell, 216 Ark. 509, 226 S.W.2d 566 (1950). The bracketed sentence is based on an instruction approved in Hogan v. Hill, 229 Ark. 758, 318 S.W.2d 580 (1958). See Lopez v. Mendez, 432 F.3d 829 (8th Cir. 2005) (instruction correctly states Arkansas law with regard to a contractor’s duty to protect the public).
Those engaged in work upon the surface of the highway are not required to observe statutory rules of the road. Ark. Code Ann. § 27-49-110; McMillin v. Bearden, 237 Ark. 673, 376 S.W.2d 665 (1964) (mere fact that grader operator was on left-hand side of the road was not sufficient to establish negligence).
© 2023 Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions-Civil
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