Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. v. Guidry

241 S.W.2d 203, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 14, 1951
Docket4634
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 241 S.W.2d 203 (Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. v. Guidry) 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
Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. v. Guidry, 241 S.W.2d 203, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143 (Tex. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinions

COE, Chief Justice.

This is a damage suit brought by Jessie Guidry, as plaintiff, against Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., Dixie Motor Coach Corporation, C. P. Bordages and wife, Lucie Marie Bordages, as defendants. Plaintiff’s injuries were alleged to have arisen from a collision between the automobile in which plaintiff was riding, owned by C. P. Bor-dages and driven by Mrs. Lucee Marie Bordages, and a bus owned and operated by Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. Dixie Motor Coach Corporation was alleged to have purchased the business of Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., after the date of the accident. Plaintiff alleged negligence upon the part of the Airline Motor Coaches’ driver and also upon the part of Mrs. Bordages, who was alleged to have been driving the automobile in the furtherance of the business of her husband and herself.

Mr. and Mrs. Bordages brought a cross action against Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation for their damages and, likewise, Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., 'and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation brought an action over against Mr. and Mrs. Bordages for indemnity or contribution.

The jury found the Airline driver guilty of negligence, proximately causing the collision, and also found Mrs. Bordages guilty of negligence; proximately causing the collision. The court, however, entered judgment in accordance with the motion for judgment non obstante veredicto’ of Mr. and Mrs. Bordages, disregarding the jury-findings of negligence on the part of Mrs. Bordages, proximately causing the collision, awarding plaintiff recovery of $6,000.-00 against Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation, and awarding Mr. and Mrs. Bordages $4,238.25 against Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation. Under the judgment plaintiff recovered nothing from Mr. and Mrs. Bordages and, likewise, Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation were allowed no recovery against Mr. and Mrs. Bordages. Thus, there was a total judgment against appellants, Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation of $10,238.25, plus interest and costs.

After motion for new trial was overruled, appellants duly perfected their appeal to this court.

This cause was submitted to the jury on special issues in the usual manner, and in [205]*205answer to such special issues the jury found that the appellant was guilty of the following acts of negligence, each of which was the proximate cause of the collision; that the operator of the bus failed to keep a proper lookout for the automobile driven by Mrs. Bordages; that he was driving said bus at an excessive rate of speed; that it was negligence to drive said bus on the left-hand side of the highway; that he failed to sound an audible signal of his intention to pass the automobile driven by Mrs. Bordages; that he was negligent in attempting to pass the automobile driven by Mrs. Bordages at the time and place in question; that it was negligent in failing to see the dash stripe along the center of the highway. In answer to the issues relative to the alleged acts of negligence on the part of the appellee Mrs. Bordages, the jury refused to find that Mrs. Bordages failed to keep a proper lookout for the bus at the time and on the occasion in question; they refused to find that she turned suddenly in front of the bus at the time and on the occasion in question; they found that Mrs. Bordages failed to give adequate or sufficient signal of her intention to turn at the time and on the occasion in question; that she failed to exercise ordinary care in not giving adequate and ordinary signal of her intention to turn and that such failure was a proximate cause, or contributed to the cause, of the collision in question. They refused to find that Mrs. Bordages failed to look to see if any other vehicle would be affected by changing the course of •her automobile at the time and on the occasion in question; they refused to find that Mrs. Bordages failed to give a visible signal of her intention to turn at the time and on the occasion in question; that the manner in which Mrs. Bordages operated her automobile at the time and on the occasion in question was not the sole proximate cause of the collision in question. As to the alleged negligence of the appellee Jessie Guidry, the jury refused to find that Jessie Guidry failed to exercise ordinary care in not warning Mrs. Bordages of the presence of the bus on the highway prior to the collision in question, and further found that the collision in question was not the result of an unavoidable accident.

Thereafter, Jessie Guidry filed a motion for judgment on the verdict and C. P. Bordages and wife duly and timely filed their motion for judgment on such verdict and in the alternative their motion non obstante veredicto. The trial court overruled the motion of C. P. Bordages and wife for judgment on the verdict and granted their motion for judgment non obstante veredicto, disregarding the findings in response to Special Issues Nos. 26, 27 and 28 of the court’s charge. Appellee Jessie Guidry’s motion for judgment on the verdict was granted as against Airline Motor Coaches, Inc., and Dixie Motor Coach Corporation, but was denied as against C. P. Bordages and wife, Lucie Marie Bordages.

Appellees Bordages’ motion for judgment non obstante veredicto fully sets out the reason why the trial court should disregard the findings by the jury to Special Issues Nos. 26, 27 and 28 and sets out their contention in this court in support of the trial court’s action in disregarding these findings. For that reason paragraphs 1 to 7, inclusive, of said motion will be set out haec verba:

1.
“That the jury in response to special issues submitted by the court, and particularly Special Issues Nos. 3 through 20, of the court’s charge, found that the operator of the Airline Motor Coaches bus on the occasion in question failed to keep a proper lookout, drove said bus at an excessive and negligent rate of speed, was driving said bus on the left hand side of the highway, which was negligence, and negligently failed to sound an audible signal before attempting to pass the automobile driven by Mrs. Bordages and was negligent in attempting to pass Mrs. Bordages at the time and place in question and was negligent in failing to see the dash stripes along the center of the highway and the jury further found that each and all of said acts and negligence proximately caused said collision, and in response to Special Issue No. 39 of the court’s charge assessed damages in favor of cross plaintiffs in the [206]*206sum of Thirty-five Hundred ($3500.00) Dollars.
2.
“Third party defendants and' cross plaintiffs further shows unto the court that in response to Special Issues Nos. 26, 27 and 28, of the court’s charge the jury found that Mrs. Bordages failed to give a sufficient signal of her intention to turn, and that she failed to exercise ordinary care in not giving an adequate or sufficient signal of her intention to turn, and that such failure to exercise ordinary care proximately caused or contributed to cause said collision. Said jury further found in response to Special Issue No. 31 that Mrs. Bordages did not fail to give a plainly visible signal of her intention to turn at the time and on the occasion in question.
3.
“Third party defendants and cross plaintiffs further show to the court that the findings of the jury in response to Special Issues Nos.

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Bluebook (online)
241 S.W.2d 203, 1951 Tex. App. LEXIS 2143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/airline-motor-coaches-inc-v-guidry-texapp-1951.