Allstate Insurance v. Reynolds

712 So. 2d 981, 1998 WL 236234
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 13, 1998
DocketNos. 97-CA-1178, 97-CA-1179
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 712 So. 2d 981 (Allstate Insurance v. Reynolds) 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
Allstate Insurance v. Reynolds, 712 So. 2d 981, 1998 WL 236234 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

11WICKER, Judge.

This appeal arises from a suit filed on behalf of Vanessa A. Johnson (Vanessa) and Welton A. Johnson (Welton), plaintiffs/appel-lees, against John Jay Reynolds (Reynolds), Ingram Industries, Inc. (Ingram), and Reliance Insurance Company (Reliance), defendants/appellants. Plaintiffs seek damages as a result of a vehicular collision in proceeding number 97-CA-1179.1 The trial judge ren[983]*983dered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs/ap-pellees in the amount of $102,703.02.2 The trial judge found Reynolds to be 100% at fault for the accident. Reynolds, Ingram, and Reliance now appeal. We affirm.

On appeal the appellants specify as errors the fault assessment and quantum.

MANIFEST ERROR: COMPARATIVE FAULT

Appellants argue the trial court’s finding that Reynolds was 100% at fault was clearly wrong since Vanessa was the driver of an overtaking or passing vehicle who did not wait to ascertain whether it was safe to pass Reynolds. The appellants also argue that Vanessa violated La.R.S. 32:76 by passing Reynolds within 100 feet of an intersection.

The trial judge made a credibility determination in according Vanessa’s testimony greater weight. We do not find he was manifestly erroneous in determining the accident occurred as described by Vanessa. The trial judge gave the following reasons for judgment:

This two-car accident ... occurred on February 11, 1994, on Louisiana Highway 18 (River Road) ... This accident occurred hafter the defendant initiated a right turn . onto Johnson Street which he at once recognized to be too narrow to accommodate his company truck. He immediately corrected this mistake by turning left, in a U-turn manner, onto River Road into the path of plaintiffs following car. The plaintiff crossed the River Road’s centerline and passed to the left of Defendant’s truck believing he would turn right onto Johnson Street. The Defendant’s actions caused this collision. The evidence was in conflict regarding whether the defendant made an abrupt left, U-turn, on River Road after initially intending to turn right, per the plaintiffs testimony. Or, whether he attempted to simply turn left off River Road onto a partial grass-gravel area on the river levee, per Defendant’s testimony. I credit the testimony of the plaintiff, Vanessa Johnson, and accordingly find that the defendant signaled a right turn prior to trying to turn right onto Johnson Street. When he determined he could not maneuver his truck onto this narrow side street, he instantly turned left, in a U-turn manner, back, onto the River Road without cheeking for following traffic. The confusion created by his unfamiliarity with the area and mistaken right turn averted his attention from following traffic. I do not credit the Defendant’s testimony where he denies using his right turn signal. The defendant acknowledged that he was lost, unfamiliar with the area and searching for his company’s business operation on the Mississippi River. He further admitted, under cross-examination, that he “moved,” his truck to the right side of River Road, near Johnson Street, prior to turning left. This Court concludes that the confusion created by the Defendant’s lost direction, failed right turn attempt onto Johnson Street, then abrupt left U-turn maneuver back onto River Road forestalled his checking for following traffic and caused this collision. An eyewitness, Tonya Co-ger, corroborates plaintiffs version of this accident, even though her prior statement to the investigating State Trooper indicated an uncertainty as to which turn signal the Defendant used ... This Court finds that the defendant acted unreasonably and violated the duties established in La. R.S. 32:104. This Court additionally finds the defendant, Jon Reynolds, 100 percent at fault and agrees with the reasoning and the conclusions of the Court in Thomas v. Champion Insurance Company [603 So.2d 766 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1992) ], a similar factual case. This Court assigns no comparative negligence to the plaintiff finding no violation of La. R.S.32:76. Steven Strength, DOTD Engineer, testified that the area where the accident occurred was not marked for a “no passing zone.”[Emphasis in original; footnotes omitted.]

Appellants argue that even though the trial judge found that Reynolds activated the [984]*984wrong turn signal, that finding does not mean Reynolds was 100% at fault. They argue that at the least it is the combined fault of both drivers which caused the accident. We agree with appellants that Vanessa, as an overtaking motorist also had a duty to determine she could safely pass Reynolds. The trial judge concluded that at the time Vanessa attempted to pass Reynolds the indication through his actions was that she could do so safely. We are not persuaded by appellants’ argument that Vanessa’g failure to show she had a need to pass Reynolds shows a | sbreach of duty or negligence on her part. We are also not persuaded by appellants’ argument that Vanessa had to wait until Reynolds had fully executed a right turn prior to passing him.

Appellants also contend that the photographs of the Reynolds’ truck,' a truck with an extended cab, show that the size of the truck precluded a sharp change in direction. The trial judge reviewed the photographs and the conflicting testimony. We find no manifest error in his placing little weight on Reynolds’ testimony that such a maneuver was impossible. Appellants would also have the court rely on the conclusion of law stated by Officer Staty Lewis, the State Trooper who investigated the accident. Appellants state that Lewis concluded Vanessa caused the accident. However, the trial judge made a credibility determination and concluded otherwise. •

Additionally, appellants argue that the trial judge erred in failing to find a violation of La.R.S. 32:76 and in relying on the Thomas, infra case. Appellants contend the Thomas case did not involve an overtaking motorist as in the case at bar. In Thomas there was a factual dispute as to whether the accident occurred when an overtaking motorist passed a left turning vehicle or whether the accident occurred when a vehicle veered from the shoulder onto the highway. The trial judge in that case concluded that the accident was caused by the failure of the left turning vehicle to give a proper left turn signal and in failing to see the overtaking vehicle. In Thomas the court discussed the duty imposed by La.R.S. 32:104.3

The Thomas court explained at 767 (citing Attales v. Shelter Mutual Ins. Co., 488 So.2d 474, 476 (La.App. 3d Cir.1986)):

... it is well settled law, and we have previously stated that:
A left turn is generally a dangerous maneuver which must not be undertaken until the turning motorist ascertains that the turn can be made in safety. A left-turning motorist involved in an accident is burdened with a presumption of liability and the motorist must show that .he is free of negligence [citations omitted.]

We find the trial judge correctly relied on the proper analysis set forth in Thomas.

Additionally, appellants argue that Vanessa violated La.R.S. 32:76(A)(2)4 when she attempted to pass Reynolds, within 100 feet of the junction. In Henry v. Highlands Ins. Co., 315 So.2d 145 (La.App. 3rd Cir. [985]

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Bluebook (online)
712 So. 2d 981, 1998 WL 236234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allstate-insurance-v-reynolds-lactapp-1998.