Ausmus v. Swearingen

296 S.W.2d 8, 1956 Mo. LEXIS 695
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedNovember 12, 1956
DocketNo. 45354
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 296 S.W.2d 8 (Ausmus v. Swearingen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ausmus v. Swearingen, 296 S.W.2d 8, 1956 Mo. LEXIS 695 (Mo. 1956).

Opinion

BROADDUS, Special Judge.

This action was commenced -by the filing of a petition in two counts. In. the -first count Goldie C. Ausmus prayed damages for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident which took place -near Palisade, Colorado. In the second Arthur D. Ausmus sought damages for loss of services of his wife Goldie C. Ausmus, arising out of the same accident.

On February 11, 1955, plaintiff Goldie C. Ausmus died, but not as a result of injuries received in the accident. - Plaintiff Arthur D. Ausmus, as administrator of the.estate of his deceased wife, was substituted as plaintiff in count one. An amended petition was filed on both counts of the petition. Defendant thereafter filed a motion td dismiss count one for the reason that the alleged cause of action did not survive- the death of Goldie C. Ausmus. There was also • a motion filed to dismiss both counts :for failure to state a cause of action. Both mptions were overruled and an answer filed by de^ fendant. Plaintiff had a verdict and judgment on the first count for $10,000, and on the second for $2,000. Defendant has ap: pealed. , ■ :

The facts are: Goldie C. Ausmus, who lived in Edina, Missouri, and the defendant', her son by a previous marriage, 'were on their way to California to visit .relg-tives when the accident occurred. They" left Edina on May 9, 1953 at about 1 :p0 in thé afternoon. From there they drove to Leavenworth, Kansas, where they spent the night with Mrs. Ausmus’ sister.. They were traveling in a 1952 two-door Willys which was the automobile involved in the accident.

The next morning May 10, the defendant and Mrs. Ausmus got up at about- 7:00: They left Leavenworth at approximately 8:00. Defendant was driving. Mrs. Aus-mus was on the right side of the front seat. [9]*9They proceeded from Leavenworth to the junction of Highways 40 and 24. They turned west on Highway 24 and proceeded on Highway 24 until the accident.

Defendant testified that between 8:00 on the morning of May 10 and noon of that day he did not remember for sure whether or not he made any stops, they may have stopped once. That stop was made for gasoline arid. they were stopped just long enough to fill up. He said they stopped between noon and 1:00 in the central part of Kansas, for “eats and fuel”; that at that time they were stopped 30 to 45 minutes; that Mrs. Ausmus asked him if she could drive — asked to relieve him. He said that she made this request “two or three times,” but that'he did not let her drive at all. They did not stop for the purpose of eating and did not -get anything to eat between noon and the time they arrived in Buena Vista, Colorado; that between noon and the time they got to the motel in Buena Vista, shortly after midnight, he thought they had stopped “either two or three times” and those stops were just for gas; that each of these stops was just long enough to get fuel, “I would say ten or fifteen minutes.”

Defendant also testified that they arrived at Buena Vista between 12:00 and 12:30 at night. They stopped at a place called Stagecoach Inn, about a mile from the motel, to get something to eat, but this place was “closing up and didn’t have any coffee or meals, the only things they had left were cold turkey sandwiches”; that he and Mrs. Ausmus each got one of those. These sandwiches were prepared “to go” and they did not get any coffee there. He said they left Stagecoach Inn and went about a mile down the highway to the Settle Motel. By the time they arrived at the motel he had eaten his sandwich; that Mrs. Ausmus wanted to stop there at the motel and rest; that the motel operator showed them a cabin and he agreed to take it.

George E. Settle, the proprietor of the Settle Motel in Buena Vista, testified that late in the evening Mrs. Ausmus came to the door and asked if he had a motel Unit; that Mrs. Ausmus said they had driven straight through and that she was simply afraid to have her son drive any furthef that night. Settle agreed that it was kind of foolish as probably the highways ovef Tennessee Pass and Leadville would bé covered with snow; that he walked'with Mrs. Ausmus out to Unit 8 and checked hei* in; that he stayed around talking to her' a few minutes and at that time'the defendant came into the cabin. He further testífi'éd; without objection, that the defendant was in a “rather surly mood.” The' witness asked defendant if he had anti-freeze in his car; that defendant replied that he did' not, Settle then remarked to defendant that he should either drain his radiator or drive to the corner and have them add some antifreeze; that defendant replied, “Oh, the; hell with it, I think well just go on because we are only going as far as Grand Junction anyhow, and we have come this far and wé might as well drive the rest of the way.’^ Settle further testified that he then walked back to the motel office and in several min-: utes Mrs. Ausmus came into the office and asked for her money back, “that the boy had decided to go on.” He further testified, without objection, that Mrs. Ausmus “posi-' tively did not want to go, she wanted to stay; right there, but he wanted to go on.”, Settle refunded their money and they went on. J

Defendant was asked: “In other w.o.rds, you proceeded on your journey over your mother’s protest?” His answer was, “That’s right.” Defendant stated Mrs. ' Ausmus wanted to stay at the motel, but he wanted to go on.

Defendant did not drink any water or coffee at the motel, but after they left the motel and had traveled about 150 miles, out of the 200 miles to the scene of the accident, he stopped and fixed something in connection with his license plate and at that time he got a drink of water out of the thermos jug which they had in the car. IJe testified he did not remember one way or the other whether Mrs. Ausmus had asked him if she could drive or “spell” him between the time [10]*10they left the motel and the time of the accident. Mrs. Ausmus estimated that the accident occurred around 5:30 or 6:00 a. m. Defendant estimated that it occurred at 4:30 a. m. on May 11 about 13 miles east of Grand Junction, Colorado; that Grand Junction is about 25 miles east of the Utah State Line. Defendant did all the driving from Leavenworth to the scene of the accident,and drove continuously, except for the times they stopped for gas, to eat, and at the motel.

Defendant testified that he never felt sleepy and had' no warning that he was going to go to sleep; that he did not know how the accident happened; that he was awake “just before the accident happened”; that'the lást thing he remembered before the accident .happened was Mrs. Ausmus hollering at him; that at the time she hollered he did not know whether he was awake or asleep; that he did not know what paused the .car to go off the road and down the embankment; that he did not know if he was asleep when the car left the road, but he remembered the car leaving the road) after Mrs. Ausmus hollered at him — he could see it, but that shortly before she hollered he did not remember what was taking place. When asked if he was conscious shortly before she hollered, he replied/ “I guess not”; that when she hollered she woke him up but by that time it was too' late to avo'id going off the road.

. The car went off the left side of the road down an embankment about 25 feet. At that point the highway was straight and level. From the time the car left the road at the top of the embankment it probably traveled forward 100 feet. The highway was blacktop about 18 or 20 feet wide. The surface of the highway was dry and the visibility was good.

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Bluebook (online)
296 S.W.2d 8, 1956 Mo. LEXIS 695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ausmus-v-swearingen-mo-1956.