Abilene State School v. Slaughter

546 S.W.2d 106, 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 2553
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 6, 1977
DocketNo. 4949
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 546 S.W.2d 106 (Abilene State School v. Slaughter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abilene State School v. Slaughter, 546 S.W.2d 106, 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 2553 (Tex. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

WALTER, Justice.

Johnie L. Slaughter recovered a judgment against Abilene State School and Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for $49,300.00 as damages for personal injuries sustained in a tractor accident.

The defendants have appealed, contending the School District is not liable since the tractor was not a motor vehicle under the terms of the Texas Tort Claims Act.

Art. 6252-19, Sec. 3, Texas Tort Claims Act, Liability of Government Units is as follows:

“Sec. 3. Each unit of government in the state shall be liable for money damages for property damage or personal injuries or death when proximately caused by the negligence or wrongful act or omission of any officer or employee acting within the scope of his employment or office arising from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle and motor-driven equipment, other than motor-driven equipment used in connection with the operation of floodgates or water release equipment by river authorities created under the laws of this state, under circumstances where such officer or employee would be personally liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of this state, or death or personal injuries so caused from some condition or some use of tangible property, real or personal, under circumstances where such unit of government, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of this state. Such liability is subject to the exceptions contained herein, and it shall not extend to punitive or exemplary damages. Liability hereunder shall be limited to $100,000 per person and $300,000 for any single occurrence for bodily injury or death and to $10,000 for any single occurrence for injury to or destruction of property.”
“Application to school and junior college districts
Sec. 19A. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to school districts or to junior college districts except as to motor vehicles.”

Slaughter and Gary Garner were spraying pecan trees at the school on June 14, 1973, when Slaughter was injured. Slaughter filled a 55-gallon barrel, which was attached to the tractor, with water. While he was in the act of “poking the hoses back in the barrel,” the tractor started moving. Slaughter instructed Garner “cut it off, it was in reverse . . . when he, I guess, instead of catching the switch, he caught the gas, and it just jumped back and the axle hit me right in the back.”

The personnel director of the school testified the tractor involved in the accident was used only on the premises of the school. He said:

“I know of no tractors that have a license plate on them. They have a triangle, with a warning sign that it is a slow-moving vehicle. That is on the back of the tractor.”

The evidence discloses the school maintains a cemetery and some property at Fort Phantom Lake each some distance from the school. The witnesses did not recall the tractor involved in this accident being used off the school premises at these sites, but testified their International tractor had been used at these places.

Abilene State School is an independent school district under the laws of the State of Texas. Insofar as this school district is concerned, the State has waived sovereign immunity only for damages resulting where [108]*108a motor vehicle is involved. The School contends the 1953 John Deere farm tractor involved in this accident was not a motor vehicle within the meaning of the statute and that Brookshire v. Houston Independent School District, 508 S.W.2d 675 (Tex.Civ.App. — Houston (14th Dist.) 1974, no writ) supports its contention.

Is a tractor a “motor vehicle” as that term is used in Section 19A of the Texas Tort Claims Act? The act does not contain a definition of the term “motor vehicle”.

In the Brookshire case the court held a forklift, powered by electric batteries, used to move and stack merchandise in the warehouse was not such a motor vehicle.

One of the cases relied upon by Slaughter is Davis v. National Casualty Co., 142 Tex. 29, 175 S.W.2d 957 (1943). The court was considering an accident policy insuring the claimant against death or dismemberment resulting from bodily injury. The claimant was woVking for a rig-building contractor moving a derrick over a public highway. The derrick was being pulled on rollers by a tractor. While carrying the rollers to the front end of the derrick, his foot was caught under a roller and his foot was crushed and later amputated. The court held:

“It is our opinion that the contrivance or device by which petitioner was struck was a ‘vehicle’ within the ordinary meaning of the word. The tractor, the derrick and the rollers under the derrick, taken together, were a device or instrumentality assembled and used to transport the derrick from one place to another. The vehicle thus formed was propelled by the gasoline used in the tractor’s motor. We give no importance to the fact that the rollers were not attached to the derrick

The court considered the Davis v. National Casualty Co. case, supra, in its opinion in Brookshire v. Houston Independent School District, supra, and said:

“Appellant relies upon Davis v. National Casualty Co., 142 Tex. 29, 175 S.W.2d 957 (1943), which involved the definition of ‘motor vehicle’ in an insurance policy according to its ordinary import. There a caterpillar tractor was pulling an oil derrick on rollers over a public highway. The Supreme Court observed that the statutory definitions of ‘vehicle’ in Articles 6675a and 6687b were ‘substantially the same’ as the definitions found in the cases when that term is given its general and ordinary meaning. The Court held that the tractor together with its derrick was a ‘vehicle,’ but nothing said therein conflicts with this Court’s holding, since the tractor was obviously designed to be driven at times on the public highway and was actually so employed at the time of the accident . . . ” (Emphasis added)

In International Insurance Company in New York v. Hensley Electric Steel Company, Inc., 497 S.W.2d 64 (Tex.Civ.App.— Waco 1973, no writ), the court said:

“We think the plain, ordinary, and generally accepted meaning of the word ‘motor vehicle’ is a self-propelled vehicle designed for, intended to be used for, or actually used to transport persons and property over roads or highways.”

We hold the tractor involved in this accident is a motor vehicle within the meaning of Section 19A of the Texas Tort Claims Act.

We find no merit in appellants’ point they are not liable under the fellow-servant doctrine.

Appellants contend the School is not liable to one servant for injuries caused by the negligence of another servant where both are engaged in a common employment or enterprise. The Texas Tort Claims Act provides to the contrary. It provides as follows:

“ . . .

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Related

Western Insurance Companies v. Andrus
694 S.W.2d 657 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Slaughter v. Abilene State School
561 S.W.2d 789 (Texas Supreme Court, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
546 S.W.2d 106, 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 2553, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abilene-state-school-v-slaughter-texapp-1977.