Attaway v. Lanusse

62 So. 2d 156, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 786
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 18, 1952
DocketNo. 3605
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 62 So. 2d 156 (Attaway v. Lanusse) 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
Attaway v. Lanusse, 62 So. 2d 156, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 786 (La. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

ELLIS, Judge.

The plaintiff is seeking damages for personal injuries received by him in an accident which occurred at the intersection of Main and South Streets within the city limits of Opelousas, Louisiana, at approximately 3:30 P.M. on March 2, 1951. Plaintiff alleged that he was riding his bicycle north on Main Street on the west side of said street, and that the truck of the defendant was being driven by an employee traveling east on South Street, and that although the plaintiff had entered the intersection and had traversed approximately one-half its distance, the truck of defendant wrongfully entered the intersection without stopping or slowing down and struck the plaintiff.

Defendants deny any negligence on the part of their truck driver and allege that the driver as he neared the intersection applied his brakes with the intention of stopping to allow traffic on Main Street to proceed ahead of him and had virtually come to a stop when the plaintiff cut sharply to his left into South Street and struck the defendant’s truck. The defendants specifically allege that the sole proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of plaintiff, his failure to maintain a proper lookout, in making a left-hand turn in violation of law by cutting diagonally across the intersection and in failing to keep his bicycle in his proper lane of traffic, and in the alternative, plead the contributory negligence of plaintiff as a bar to his recovery.

The District Court with short written reasons found “that.the collision would not have occurred had not the driver of the pick-up truck entered the intersection without coming to a full stop” and “that the accident occurred on Main Street and not on South Street as is contended for by the defendant”, and therefore rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff, from which the defendant has appealed.

It is undisputed that the plaintiff was traveling north on Main Street on bis bicycle three or four feet distance from the west cúrb line of said street, and that as he reached the intersection of South and Main Streets a truck traveling south passed and that the plaintiff intended to make a left turn at South Street, and that the truck of the defendants was being driven in an easterly direction on South Street and intended to make a left turn on Main Street, and that there is a stop sign on South Street. It is further shown and agreed that this intersection on the south side was virtually a blind corner due to thick shrubbery that grew along and parallel to the sidewalk on the south side of South Street. The shrubbery began about eight feet back from the southwest corner of the intersection of Main and South Streets, in other words, a motorist could not see south on Main Street nor west on South Street until he was within eight feet of the intersection.

[157]*157It is the testimony of the plaintiff that when he arrived at the .intersection he did not attempt'a left turn immediately and had reached approximately the center line of South Street as it intersects Main Street when the left-hand side of the bumper of the pick-up truck, traveling' at approximately 15 miles an hour, struck him on his left leg, knocking him off the bicycle. He further testified that he was three to four feet out in Main Street at the time he was struck.

On the other hand, the driver of the defendant’s truck testified that he was virtually stopped in the south lane of traffic from three to five feet west of the intersection when the plaintiff cut diagonally across the intersection and struck the left-hand side of the bumper of his truck and fell a short distance south of the northwest corner of the intersection in South Street, a few feet to the west of Main Street, and that his bicycle fell in the edge of Main Street to the east of the plaintiff. The driver of the truck admits that he did not see the plaintiff until he had practically-struck the truck.

There were two parties who claim to have been eyewitnesses to the accident at the time the bicycle and truck collided. One was walking on the opposite side of Main Street traveling north some distance down the street. As to the collision he testified: “The truck was coming on a side street, when he got to Main Street I see where the accident happened — -I don’t know — I couldn’t say — just about four feet from the side street.” He testified that the accident happened more to the north part of the intersection. This witness further testified that he saw no one move the truck and that he ivas there when the police arrived. This witness further testified that a truck had just passed the intersection at the time of' the accident and this testimony corroborates that of the plaintiff and the driver of defendant’s truck. This witnesses’ testimony was not too enlightening. The other so called eyewitness was the driver of the truck going south on Main Street that passed the plaintiff just as the latter arrived at the intersection. This witness testified that he saw the plaintiff coming north on Main Street and that the latter had crossed from the east side of Main Street to the west before they met and, therefore, passed the truck being driven by this witness to the right or west side, and that when he had gone approximately 45 or 50 feet he looked in his mirror and saw the plaintiff falling; that he stopped his vehicle and returned to where the plaintiff was lying and at this time he saw the truck “out on Main Street coming out of South Street and it was sticking over on the north side about three feet, I would say about three or four feet.” He also testified' that when he got to the scene of the accident he saw the driver of defendant’s truck standing by the plaintiff and that he- asked him to help raise him up. It is his further positive testimony that the truck of the defendant was not moved while he was there. This is important in arriving at the point of the collision, that is, whether it happened in South Street or in Main Street. These two eyewitnesses, if they may be termed such, placed the point of collision as being three or four feet in Main Street, and that the plaintiff was lying in Main Street close to the northwest corner of the intersection.

Very shortly after the accident happened two police officers arrived on the scene, where they found the defendant’s truck stopped in the south lane of traffic on South Street three to five feet west of the intersection. The driver of defendant’s truck had stated to them that it had not been moved, that he wanted to leave it right where it was at the time the plaintiff ran into the left-hand side of the front bumper. There were no' skid marks and no witness heard the sound of any brakes being applied. In view of the testimony of all the witnesses that the truck had not been moved and that of the officers as to its location, we are of the opinion that the District Court was-in error in finding that this accident occurred three to four feet in Main Street. At least we are firmly of the opinion that the plaintiff has failed to prove this fact. The mere fact that he was lying close to the northwest corner of the intersection and that his bicycle was several feet east of him is not sufficient to establish his version of the accident. His position and that of the [158]*158bicycle after the accident could reasonably have been the same if the accident had happened as contended and testified to by the driver of the defendant’s truck. There cannot be the least doubt but that the plaintiff is in error when he testifies that the defendant’s truck was traveling at a speed of 15 miles an hour when it struck him three or four feet out in Main Street.

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Bluebook (online)
62 So. 2d 156, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/attaway-v-lanusse-lactapp-1952.