Baker, J.
In January 2006, Terry Brown was driving a semi tractor-trailer for his employer. While traveling on I-65 in snowy conditions, Brown lost control of the semi, which ended up jackknifed and disabled in the median. An hour later, a vehicle in which Kristen Zak was a passenger slid off of the same part of I-65 and crashed into Brown’s semi in the median. As a result of the accident, Zak suffered permanent, serious brain damage. Her guardians filed a complaint alleging negligence on the part of Brown and his employer.
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Next, the appellants argue that the trial court erred by admitting reports generated following Hunt’s review of the accident, as well as the deposition of David Rak, Brown’s supervisor at the time of the accident. The appellants contend that this evidence constitutes inadmissible evidence of subsequent remedial measures, which is barred by Indiana Evidence Rule 407. They direct our attention to caselaw standing for the proposition that evidence relating to a stage in the disciplinary/termination process of an employee at fault in an accident constitutes an inadmissible remedial measure. Strack & Van Til, Inc. v. Carter, 803 N.E.2d 666, 671 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).
Indiana Rule of Evidence 407 states that evidence of “measures [that] are taken that would have made an earlier injury or harm less likely to occur” is inadmissible to prove negligence. In this case, the complained-of evidence is Hunt’s review and investigation of the accident. Guardianship insists that an investigation does not constitute a “measure” taken by the company. According to Guardianship, the “measure” that was taken here was Brown’s termination—which was redacted from the documents before submission to the jury.
Although we have been unable to find an Indiana case directly on point, other state and federal jurisdictions have addressed whether a post-incident investigation constitutes an inadmissible subsequent remedial measure. The majority of jurisdictions agree that a post-incident investigation and report of the investigation do not constitute inadmissible subsequent remedial measures….
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals considered whether tests and a report prepared by a helicopter manufacturer following a helicopter accident was an inadmissible subsequent remedial measure. Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Inc. v. Bell Helicopters Textron, 805 F.2d 907 (10th Cir. 1986) (applying Federal Rule of Evidence 407, which is identical to Indiana Rule of Evidence 407). The Rocky Mountain Court found the evidence admissible…We find this analysis to be compelling, and agree that evidence of post-accident investigations are not automatically excluded as subsequent remedial measures. Therefore, in this case, the trial court did not err by admitting Hunt’s post-accident reports or Rak’s deposition.
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The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
May, J., and Brown, J., concur.