Wis JI-Civil 1140

Driving a motor vehicle on the wrong side of the roadway at the time of (or

immediately before) a collision is negligence unless there was an explanation satisfactory to

you that the driver was free from negligence in being on the wrong side of the roadway.

(Falling asleep at the wheel is not a satisfactory explanation. It is negligence itself.)

(If a driver is on the wrong side of the roadway as he or she approaches an oncoming

car at such time and distance from the point of collision that the oncoming driver would be

obliged to take some precaution to avoid an accident by reducing speed, stopping, or

changing course of travel, then the driver is negligent with respect to yielding one-half of the

travelable portion of the roadway, even though the driver may have returned to the proper

side of the roadway before the impact.)

[Any of the following paragraphs may be used where appropriate:

(a) A driver is not negligent in failing to operate a vehicle on the right-hand side of

the roadway when it is impossible to know where the right-hand side of the roadway is by

reason of circumstances which occur suddenly and without warning and over which the

driver had no control and for which the driver was in no way responsible, such as (glaring

headlights of an oncoming automobile) (a sudden cloud of dust).

(b) A driver is not negligent in failing to operate a vehicle upon the right side of

the roadway when it is impossible to do so because the vehicle, suddenly and without

warning, due to mechanical failure such as (a blow-out) (other mechanical failure) caused the

driver to lose control. This rule does not apply if the driver knew or in the exercise of

ordinary care should have known of the faulty mechanical condition prior to the accident.

(c) (Skidding; see Wis JI-Civil 1280.)]