Allison v. Turner

61 So. 2d 207, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 699
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 1952
DocketNo. 7895
StatusPublished

This text of 61 So. 2d 207 (Allison v. Turner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Allison v. Turner, 61 So. 2d 207, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 699 (La. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

GLADNEY, Judge.

This action is for damages sustained by plaintiff’s automobile in the Town of Springhill, Louisiana, when it collided with a truck driven by the defendant.

It is the second appearance of this case before us. On the former occasion, Allison v. Turner, La.App.1951, 53 So.2d 256', plaintiff had appealed from a judgment sustaining defendant’s exception of ■ no cause of action. That 'judgment was affirmed on the original hearing, but on rehearing the first opinion of this court was recalled and set aside, the judgment of the lower court was annulled, and the case remanded for further proceedings.

■ In the lower court Turner, the defendant, then answered plaintiff’s petition denying any negligence on his part and averring the collision was solely due to' the negligence of the plaintiff. By way of recon-ventional demand, he sought recovery of damages to his truck, and alternatively, plead the contributory negligence of plaintiff.

After trial the judge of the lower court concluded that both parties were guilty of such negligence as to bar their recovery. From this ■ judgment plaintiff has again appealed and the appeal has been answered by the defendant, who urges the judgment be affirmed in its rejection of plaintiff’s demands and be reversed insofar as defendant is held contributorily negligent and his reconventional demand dismissed.

The collision from which this action arises occurred at the intersection of the Springhill-Shongaloo Highway with Parkway Drive, a street in the Town of Spring-hill. At the point of collision the highway runs in an east and west direction and forms a “T” intersection with Parkway Drive which enters it from the south.

At the time of the accident the highway was dry and visibility was good. The highway was straight for several hundred feet in both directions from the point of collision.

On the morning of January 17, 1950, Turner was driving his pick-up truck westerly along the highway as he neared the intersection with Parkway Drive. He was alone in the truck at the time and anticipated making a left turn into Parkway Drive. Allison, to the rear of Turner, was traveling in the same direction as both vehicles approached the intersecting street. He was accompanied by two Negroes, Dayton 'Cooper and Rita Cooper.

Allison testified he was driving at a speed between twenty-five and thirty-five miles per hour and first observed the truck ahead of him when he rounded a curve about one-fourth of a mile east of where the accident occurred; that he continued to gain on defendant and when he reached a point forty to forty-five feet to the rear 'of the truck, and while still traveling on his righthand side -of the road he sounded his horn as evidence of his in[209]*209tention to overtake the defendant, pulled to his left, and was in the act of overtaking the defendant when the latter suddenly and without warning commenced a lefthand turn into the intersecting street with the result that the right front of plaintiff’s car struck the left side of the defendant’s car. He states that he first observed, defendant’s car in the act of turning to the left when the.front of his vehicle was to the left of and equal with the rear of defendant’s truck, and upon observing .defendant’s maneuver he continued to blow his horn despite which defendant persisted in his left turn, This, he says, caused him to increase his speed in order to go around defendant’s truck, but he was unablé to avoid the collision.

Turner’s testimony is that he approached the intersecting street at a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour and when he reached a point about one hundred twenty feet east of the intersection he extended his left arm and signaled his intention to turn left; that he saw no one approaching from his rear and reduced his speed to about ten miles per hour and when he came within thirty feet of the intersection he again looked to the rear and seeing no approaching vehicle, he began turning left into the intersection. He stated that he had practically completed his turn, at least to the extent that his truck was headed south and partially into the intersecting street,, when his truck was struck on the left side near the door.

Plaintiff and defendant are in dispute upon several salient points. Defendant testified that before commencing his left turn he signaled his intention to do so by extending his left arm. Plaintiff denies any signal was given. Plaintiff estimated his own speed at thirty-five miles per hour when he commenced the act of passing, whereas defendant contends it was much faster and was excessive under the circumstances. Defendant denies plaintiff sounded his horn as a signal for passing.

Some corroborating evidence was offered but it is inconclusive. Dayton Cooper testified he did not see Turner’s signal for a lefthand turn. Paul Sewall said Allison passed his truck about three and one-half miles east of the collision while his truck was proceeding in the same direction at a speed of forty miles per hour. Cooper corroborated plaintiff’s testimony that the latter was traveling thirty-five miles per hour just prior to the accident. R. L. Haynes testified he was about one-fourth of a mile away from the scene of the accident when he heard the crash of the two vehicles and that immediately prior thereto he heard a horn blowing.

Bert Braley, a State Trooper and Vol Eubanks, the marshal of Springhill, were at the scené of the accident shortly after its occurrence and their testimony is substantially the same. They located the point of impact at the' intersection. They both testified Turner’s truck had partially entered Parkway Drive when struck and that damage to the truck was concentrated at the left door and left fender. They found the right front of the bumper and right front fender of Allison’s car bore the brunt of the impact. They further stated that the truck was turned clockwise to the opposite side of the highway, having moved about forty-seven feet from the point of impact to the point of rest and that the Allison car had traveled approximately one hundred twenty-five feet after the collision.

Though some of the facts are undetermined, we think it quite clear that both drivers were guilty of negligence. Plaintiff was at fault in attempting to pass the truck at an intersection and in attempting to pass without ascertaining that the driver of the forward car had understood his signal and would respect it, both acts being contrary to positive law. Defendant wás surely negligent in failing to discover the presence of Allison and in attempting to exercise a lefthand turn without using every precaution to see that such a dangerous maneuver could be safely concluded.

In our former decision herein upon resolution' of defendant’s exception of no cause of action by this Court, we observed that it is not every case of negligence or statutory violation on the part of a plaintiff that will bar his recovery. This is true because whether the act of passing at an [210]*210intersection is the, proximate cause is not entirely a question of law, but may involve also a question of fact, which can only be determined from the evidence adduced on trial. In this appeal plaintiff relies ex-, clusively upon his special plea predicated on the last clear chance or “discovered peril” doctrine. By so doing he thereby concedes his . negligence. We think the important legal issue herein involved concerns the relation of the last clear chance doctrine to the facts presented by this record:

In support of plaintiff’s position, the cases of Parker v.

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45 So. 2d 438 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1950)
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Allison v. Turner
53 So. 2d 256 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1951)

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Bluebook (online)
61 So. 2d 207, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allison-v-turner-lactapp-1952.