Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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People v. Traughber
Michigan Supreme Court
432 Mich. 208 (1989)
People often must make split second decisions in emergency situations.
In People versus Traughber, the court considered whether a driver could be convicted of negligent homicide resulting from the driver's choice in an emergency.
Around midnight one night, David Traughber was driving down a dark two lane road with a forty five mile per hour speed limit in rural Michigan.
Traughber was driving south at around thirty five miles per hour when he saw another vehicle driven by Linus Parr driving north around three fourths of a mile ahead of Traughber.
Parr was driving between forty five and fifty miles per hour. When Traughber and Parr's cars got around thirty feet away from each other, Traughber noticed a large metal real estate sign lying flat on the road ahead of him in his lane. Traughber's split second decision was to swerve left into the northbound lane to avoid the sign, thinking that there was enough room between himself and Parr to avoid the sign.
However, Parr saw Traughber enter his lane and thought Traughber would either continue toward Parr or go off the road, so Parr swerved into the southbound lane.
At the same time, Traughber passed the sign and returned to his original lane. Parr and Traughber collided head on in the southbound lane. The woman in the passenger seat of Parr's car was fatally injured.
Parr, Parr's other passenger, Traughber, and Traughber's passenger received minor injuries.
Police arrived shortly after the crash. Traughber's blood alcohol level was point o five percent.
Two follow-up breathalyzer tests at the police department showed Traughber's blood alcohol level over the following hour and a half was point o four percent.
Traughber was charged with negligent homicide and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
Traughber waived his arraignment and right to a jury trial. After a bench trial, the court applied the ordinary negligence reasonable person standard of care and found Traughber guilty of negligent homicide. The judge cited Traughber's experience as a truck driver and said he should have made a better judgment call and been able to swerve to the right off the road instead of into Pars Lane. Traughber was acquitted of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. Traughber appealed. The appellate court affirmed.
Traughber appealed again, saying the trial court judge held Traughber to a higher standard of care than an ordinary reasonable person. The Michigan Supreme Court granted leave to appeal.
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Get more case briefs explained with Quimbee. Quimbee has over 42,700 case briefs (and counting) keyed to 988 casebooks ► quimbee.com/case-briefs-overview
People v. Traughber
Michigan Supreme Court
432 Mich. 208 (1989)
People often must make split second decisions in emergency situations.
In People versus Traughber, the court considered whether a driver could be convicted of negligent homicide resulting from the driver's choice in an emergency.
Around midnight one night, David Traughber was driving down a dark two lane road with a forty five mile per hour speed limit in rural Michigan.
Traughber was driving south at around thirty five miles per hour when he saw another vehicle driven by Linus Parr driving north around three fourths of a mile ahead of Traughber.
Parr was driving between forty five and fifty miles per hour. When Traughber and Parr's cars got around thirty feet away from each other, Traughber noticed a large metal real estate sign lying flat on the road ahead of him in his lane. Traughber's split second decision was to swerve left into the northbound lane to avoid the sign, thinking that there was enough room between himself and Parr to avoid the sign.
However, Parr saw Traughber enter his lane and thought Traughber would either continue toward Parr or go off the road, so Parr swerved into the southbound lane.
At the same time, Traughber passed the sign and returned to his original lane. Parr and Traughber collided head on in the southbound lane. The woman in the passenger seat of Parr's car was fatally injured.
Parr, Parr's other passenger, Traughber, and Traughber's passenger received minor injuries.
Police arrived shortly after the crash. Traughber's blood alcohol level was point o five percent.
Two follow-up breathalyzer tests at the police department showed Traughber's blood alcohol level over the following hour and a half was point o four percent.
Traughber was charged with negligent homicide and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
Traughber waived his arraignment and right to a jury trial. After a bench trial, the court applied the ordinary negligence reasonable person standard of care and found Traughber guilty of negligent homicide. The judge cited Traughber's experience as a truck driver and said he should have made a better judgment call and been able to swerve to the right off the road instead of into Pars Lane. Traughber was acquitted of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. Traughber appealed. The appellate court affirmed.
Traughber appealed again, saying the trial court judge held Traughber to a higher standard of care than an ordinary reasonable person. The Michigan Supreme Court granted leave to appeal.
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Subscribe to our YouTube Channel ► youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=QuimbeeDotCom
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