Family of motorcylist injured while passing stopped cars on the right cannot sue for his death
Clay Dangler was killed when he attempted to pass a string of stopped vehicles on the right-hand (passenger) side and struck an on-coming, left-turning Bloomfield School District school bus. His family sued the school district, alleging that the driver was negligent in initiating a left-turn, and also sued the driver of a large boom truck who had indicated that he would allow the bus to turn in front of him.
The family claimed that the boom truck operator should not have indicated that the bus might turn in front of him, and that the bus driver was negligent in initiating her turn. The Court noted, however, that Dangler was illegally passing in the right-hand "flare" lane; that he was doing so where vision was obstructed by the boom truck; and that the bus likely initiated its turn before Dangler initiated his passing maneuver. Under these facts, the Court determined that the family could not prove negligence by the boom truck driver or by the bus driver.