Alfultis v. Bi-State Development Agency

439 S.W.2d 206, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 721
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 3, 1969
DocketNos. 33043, 33044
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 439 S.W.2d 206 (Alfultis v. Bi-State Development Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alfultis v. Bi-State Development Agency, 439 S.W.2d 206, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 721 (Mo. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

WOLFE, Judge.

This is an action for damages arising out of personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff when she was thrown against an upright bar by the door of defendant Bi-State’s bus, on which she was a passenger. This occurred by reason of a collision between the bus and a car operated by defendant Bob Jines. There was a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $7,000 against both defendants. After their motions for judgment in accordance with their motions for a directed verdict and motions for a new trial filed by both defendants had been overruled, both defendants in due time appealed.

In relation to the points raised as to the sufficiency of the evidence, we are obliged to view it in a light favorable to the prevailing plaintiff and we shall so state the facts.

The plaintiff was returning home from her work. As the bus was traveling east-wardly on Natural Bridge it approached the intersection of Jefferson Avenue. She signaled for the bus to stop and walked toward the front exit. A collision occurred and she was thrown toward the front of the bus against an upright steel bar. She stated that her body twisted around it, resulting in the injuries for which she seeks to recover. She did not observe the traffic lights which control the traffic at the intersection, nor did she see Jines’ Volkswagen before the collision. The evidence as to her injuries will be set out in our consideration of related points.

The lights controlling the traffic on these two streets are of the usual variety. When the lights facing east and west bound traffic on Natural Bridge are green indicating “Go” for the east and west traffic on Natural Bridge, they are red facing the traffic going north and south on Jefferson and that traffic may not proceed, and vice versa. Jefferson Avenue has five lanes for northbound traffic and three lanes for southbound: Natural Bridge has four lanes for eastbound and four for westbound.

Plaintiff called as her witness defendant Jines. He stated that on November 11, 1964, around 5:00 P.M., he was driving his car northwardly on Jefferson Avenue. He said that as he approached the intersection of Natural Bridge he was traveling at a speed of thirty miles per hour. He was driving in the second lane from the curb and there were other northbound cars stopped in the lanes to his left. He noticed that the traffic light facing him was red and he reduced his speed to about ten miles per hour. When he reached a point forty feet south of the intersection the light turned green and the cars on his left started up. He started to accelerate his speed, but when he was twenty feet south of the intersection he noticed that the cars to his left were slowing down and stopping, and he began to slow up. When he reached the curb line he saw the bus near the center of the intersection. It was in the curb lane and traveling at an estimated speed of thirty-five miles per hour. Jines slowed his speed somewhat but traveled three to five feet and hit the front right comer of the bus.

The plaintiff introduced in evidence the deposition of the bus operator. In his tes[208]*208timony by deposition he stated that he was traveling eastwardly on Natural Bridge in the second lane from the south curb. He stated that the traffic light was green for eastbound traffic when he first saw it and as he was crossing the intersection. He first saw the Volkswagen when the bus was twenty to twenty-five feet west of the east curb of Jefferson Avenue. His bus was then traveling at a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour. The Volkswagen was coming past a line of stopped cars at a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour but had not yet reached the south curb line of Natural Bridge. The left front fender of the Volkswagen struck the right side of the bus bumper.

The plaintiff rested her case on the evidence set out above, and her own testimony and other evidence as to her injuries which will be stated later.

Defendant Bi-State called its driver as a witness and his testimony was in most respects the same as that previously given by the deposition offered by the plaintiff. Again he stated that he saw the Volkswagen when the bus was twenty to twenty-five feet west of the east curb of Jefferson. He said that the Volkswagen was in the second lane from the east curb and was two or three feet into a cross-walk at that place. He did not sound his horn but applied his brakes and swerved slightly to his left. He said he could and did bring his bus to a stop in sixty feet. He said that when the bus was sixty feet west of Jefferson he could see about one block to the south.

Three witnesses who had been passengers on the bus testified that it had the green light. One said that when the bus was half way through the intersection he saw the Volkswagen twenty to twenty-five feet back from Natural Bridge traveling at a speed of twenty to thirty miles per hour and the bus was traveling at the same speed. He said that he could “guess” that he saw the Volkswagen fifty or sixty feet back from the intersection. Another passenger stated that the bus was in the curb lane of Natural Bridge and more than half way through the intersection traveling twenty-five miles per hour when the Volkswagen was five feet south of a cut-off which was twenty-five feet from the intersection. The other witness did not testify about the position or speed of the vehicles. Testimony touching upon the alleged injuries of the plaintiff was also offered by the defendant Bi-State.

Defendant Jines did not testify but put on a witness named Salas. Salas stated he was standing on the northwest corner of Natural Bridge and Jefferson waiting to cross the street to the east but the light was red. It was red for eastbound traffic when the bus went through. He said there were no northbound vehicles on Jefferson other than the Volkswagen and it was several car lengths from the intersection when he saw it.

Both appellants contend that the court erred in giving instructions designated as No. 3 and No. 4. Instruction No. 3 was as follows:

“Your verdict must be for plaintiff Ellen E. Alfultis and against defendant Bi-State Development Agency, if you believe :
First, the bus driver Holley either:
failed to keep a careful lookout, or violated the traffic signal, and
Second, the bus driver Holley’s conduct, in any one or more of the respects submitted in Paragraph First, was negligent, and
Third, as a direct result of such negligence, the plaintiff sustained damage.”

Instruction No. 4 was the same as Instruction No. 3 except for the substitution of the name of defendant Jines for that of Bi-State. It is the contention of both defendants that the instructions were conflicting and contradictory. In discussing the requisites of an instruction to cover a similar situation in Levin v. Caldwell, Mo., [209]*209285 S.W.2d 655, 1. c. 660, the Supreme Court said:

“Since it appears that this case will likely be retried, we deem it prudent to mention that plaintiff cannot recover against both defendants under instructions based upon the hypothesized fact that each entered the intersection against the red light.

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Related

Cook v. Holcomb
854 S.W.2d 78 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
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539 S.W.2d 688 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1976)
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1974 OK CIV APP 12 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1974)
Allen v. Bi-State Development Agency
452 S.W.2d 288 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1970)

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Bluebook (online)
439 S.W.2d 206, 1969 Mo. App. LEXIS 721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alfultis-v-bi-state-development-agency-moctapp-1969.