Apperson v. Lazro

87 N.E. 97, 44 Ind. App. 186, 1909 Ind. App. LEXIS 153
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 5, 1909
DocketNo. 6,249
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 87 N.E. 97 (Apperson v. Lazro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Apperson v. Lazro, 87 N.E. 97, 44 Ind. App. 186, 1909 Ind. App. LEXIS 153 (Ind. Ct. App. 1909).

Opinions

Watson, C. J.

Appellee in this action recovered $1,000 dámages for injuries alleged to have been sustained by reason of appellants’ negligence in driving an automobile against and over him on a public highway.

The complaint was originally in four paragraphs. The second and fourth were withdrawn before the cause was submitted to the jury, leaving the first and third, to each of which a demurrer was overruled.

The errors assigned are: (1) The complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; (2) the [189]*189overruling of the demurrer to the first paragraph of the complaint; (3) the overruling of the demurrer to the third paragraph of the complaint; (4) the overruling of appellants’ motion for judgment on interrogatories; (5) the overruling of appellants’ motion for a new trial.

The facts briefly stated are as follows: On June 5, 1902, the plaintiff, who was sixty-four years of age and h.ad very defective eyesight, was traveling on foot, upon a public highway, from his home in the town of Mexico to the city of Peru. While traveling south upon the western edge of the roadway, he was startled by the approach of defendants’ automobile, which was traveling northward upon the road, when it was about thirty feet in front of him. In attempting to get out of the way he jumped toward the east, into the road. At this time the machine was turned sharply to the west, and the front hub on the east side struck the right side of plaintiff, who was thrown a considerable distance and severely injured.

1. [190]*1902. [189]*189Counsel for appellants insist that the first paragraph of the complaint is bad, because it in noway charges them with any actionable negligence. In part it reads thus: Said defendants “then and there riding in, and in the possession and control of, a certain automobile, carelessly, negligently and recklessly ran and operated said automobile at a high, reckless and dangerous rate of speed, over and along the western edge of the beaten track on the western edge of the highway, toward and against said plaintiff, and thereby knocked him down, dragged him across to the opposite side of said highway, and ran upon and over him, to plaintiff’s great injury.” It may be conceded that the phraseology of the complaint in its logical arrangement is not what it should be, yet it is difficult to see how any construction can be placed upon it other than that said defendants carelessly, negligently and recklessly ran and operated said automobile toward and against said plaintiff, and thereby knocked him down. ‘ ‘ Every part of a pleading must [190]*190be adopted in construing it. The sufficiency of the pleading is to be judged from its general scope and tenor, and nothing extrinsic is to be considered which would impair the full force of the result which the pleader sets forth. ’ ’ 4 Ency. Pl. and Pr., 746. See, also, Platter v. City of Seymour (1882), 86 Ind. 323; City of North Vernon v. Voegler (1885), 103 Ind. 314.

3. It is also urged that the third paragraph of the complaint is defective, in that it does not show that appellants might have turned to the right, and that there was unobstructed space in the road upon which they might have turned; that appellants were aware of the presence of appellee, or that there was light enough to see, citing Walkup v. May (1894), 9 Ind. App. 409. That case, however, is not in point. The only question in that case being the correctness of the court’s action upon the special verdict, the sufficiency of the complaint not being in issue. But it has been held repeatedly that a general allegation of negligence is sufficient to withstand a demurrer to the complaint for want of facts, and, under such allegation, the facts constituting negligence may be given in evidence. Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Wynant (1885), 100 Ind. 161; Louisville, etc., R. Co. v. Jones (1886), 108 Ind. 551, 566; Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Berry (1899), 152 Ind. 607, 46 L. R. A. 33; Duffy v. Gleason (1901), 26 Ind. App. 180; Van Camp, etc., Iron Co. v. O’Brien (1902), 28 Ind. App. 152.

4. 5. The strict law of the road — that where one is traveling in a vehicle and meets another vehicle he must turn to the right- — does not obtain as to footmen. Elliott, Roads and Sts. (2d ed.), §834; Colterill v. Starkey (1839), 8 Car. & P. *691; Yore v. Mueller Coal, etc., Co. (1899), 147 Mo. 679, 49 S. W. 855. "All persons have a right to walk in a, public highway as well as to ride or drive upon it; their rights are equal, and both footmen and drivers are required to exercise such care and prudence as the circumstances demand,” Elliott, Roads [191]*191and Sts. (2d ed.), §834. See, also, Simons v. Gaynor (1883), 89 Ind. 165; Indiana Springs Co. v. Brown (1905), 165 Ind. 465, 1 L. R. A. (N. S.) 238; Angell, Highways (3d ed.), §341. “Such care,” then, “must be in proportion to the danger or the peculiar risks in each ease.” Hannigan v. Wright (1905), 5 Pennewill (Del.) 537, 63 Atl. 234. And see Green v. Eden (1900), 24 Ind. App. 583. This care, however, must be reciprocal. As said by the court in Hannigan v. Wright, supra: “The person having the management of the vehicle and the traveler on foot are both required to use such reasonable care as the circumstances of the case demand; an exercise of greater care on the part of each being required where there is an increase of danger. The right of each must be exercised in a reasonable and careful manner, so as not unreasonably to abridge or interfere with the rights of the other.” When this accident occurred the appellants were travelers in their automobile upon a public highway, and the appellee was a pedestrian on the same road. Their respective rights and duties toward each other, under these circumstances, were such that, although each had the right to pass and repass, neither could so negligently exercise that right as to injure the other.

6. It is a well-settled rule of the common law that there can be no recovery of damages for injuries inflicted upon one person by another, if the injured person by his own negligence proximately contributed to the injury. 4 Am. and Eng. Ency. Law, 15; City of Indianapolis v. Cook (1884), 99 Ind. 10.

7. [192]*1928. 9. [191]*191In this case, the plaintiff was infirm, and had such defective eyesight that, according to his own testimony, he was unable to distinguish the features of a person within conversational distance. He was walking along the western edge of the beaten roadway, looking downward, it seems, to make sure of his footing. Other than this there appears to have been nothing unusual or extraordinary in his conduct, until he was startled by the approach of the [192]*192automobile. Up to this time there was nothing in his actions that would indicate carelessness or negligence on his part. The fact that he was almost blind and was traveling on the highway unattended does not constitute negligence. Neff v. Inhabitants of Wellesley (1889), 148 Mass. 487, 20 N. E. 111, 2 L. R. A. 500. In Stringer v. Frost (1888), 116 Ind. 477, 2 L. R. A. 614, 9 Am. St.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Inc. v. Scott
300 N.E.2d 50 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1973)
Huey v. Milligan
175 N.E.2d 698 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1961)
Combes v. Snow
351 P.2d 419 (Washington Supreme Court, 1960)
Jones v. Kasper
33 N.E.2d 816 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1941)
Fox v. Lavender
56 P.2d 1049 (Utah Supreme Court, 1936)
Weinstein v. Wheeler
296 P. 1079 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1930)
Indianapolis Traction & Terminal Co. v. Lee
118 N.E. 959 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1918)
Harker v. Gruhl
111 N.E. 457 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1916)
McKinley v. Britton
103 N.E. 349 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1913)
Haynes Automobile Co. v. Sinnett
91 N.E. 171 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1910)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 N.E. 97, 44 Ind. App. 186, 1909 Ind. App. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/apperson-v-lazro-indctapp-1909.