Autry v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co.

98 S.W.2d 254
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 30, 1936
DocketNo. 13440
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 98 S.W.2d 254 (Autry v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Autry v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co., 98 S.W.2d 254 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

BROWN, Justice.

Appellants, Hubert Autry and Mrs. Ma-rinie Record Stegall, surviving husband and mother,' respectively, of Mrs. Viola Autry, deceased, brought this suit against appellee, Dallas Railway & Terminal Company, for damages growing out of the death of Viola Autry. She was killed while driving her automobile, same being struck by ap-pellee’s street car at the intersection of Center street and Zang boulevard in the city of Dallas, Dallas county, Tex. Mrs. Autry was driving west on Center street ,and the street car was going north on Zang boulevard.

Appellants pleaded negligence on the part of the motorman in charge of appellee’s street car as follows: (1) His failure to keep a proper lookout for the deceased and her automobile; that he had a clear vision of the approaching automobile for approximately 50 feet prior to the time the street car reached the point of intersection of the two streets; (2) failure to keep the street car under control; (3) the operation of the street car at a greater speed than 20 miles per hour; (4) the operation of the street car at a rate of speed which was unreasonable under the surrounding circumstances then existing; (5) failure on the part of the motorman to sound his gong or bell as he approached the intersection of the two streets; *(6) discovered peril, and other facts of negligence which will not be noticed because of the instructions given the jury and the assignments of error presented to us.

Appellee answered, denying liability and specifically pleading contributory negligence on the part of Mrs. Autry, as well as the defense of unavoidable accident.

The cause being tried to a jury, the case was submitted on special issues.

Appellants requested the court to submit the issues covering discovered peril, which were refused.

The jury found as follows: (1) That the street car was not being operated at a greater rate of speed than was reasonable at the time and place in question; (2) that the motorman did not fail to sound his gong as the street car approached the intersection of the two streets; (3) that the motorman failed to exercise ordinary care to keep a lookout for the automobile driven by Mrs. Autry immediately prior to the collision; (4) that such failure proximately caused the death of Mrs. Autry and the damages sustained; (5) that appellant Hubert Autry sustained financial injury by reason of the death of his wife; (6) the sum of $5,082.-50; (7) that Mrs. Stegall suffered financial loss by reason of Mrs. Autry’s death; (8) the sum of money found was $500; (9) that Mrs. Autry consciously suffered physical pain and mental suffering between the time of her injury and prior to her death;’ (10) the amount awarded for such suffering being $250; (11) that Mrs. Autry did not fail to exercise ordinary care to keep a lookout for the street car; (12) that Mrs. Autry did not fail to exercise ordinary care for her own safety in respect to listening for the approach of the street car; (13) that while approaching and in the immediate vicinity of the intersection of the two said streets, Mrs. Autry operated her automobile at a rate of speed in excess of 20 miles an hour; (14) that the operation of the automobile at such rate of speed proximately caused, or contributed to cause, the collision; (15) that Mrs. Autry did not fail to sound an effective signal as she approached the intersection of the two streets; (16) that Mrs. Autry failed to exercise ordinary care for her own safety in respect to the rate of speed at which she drove her automobile at the time of approaching the street car tracks and in the immediate vicinity thereof; (17) that Mrs. Autry’s failure to exercise ordinary care in such respect proximately caused, or contributed to cause, the collision; (18) that Mrs. Autry did not fail to exercise ordinary care for her own safety in not turning her automobile to the right and in not proceeding northward on Zang boulevard; (20) that Mrs. Autry did not fail to exercise ordinary care in the manner of applying the brakes of her car in approaching the street car tracks; (21) that the collision was not the result of an unavoidable accident.

Having received this verdict, the trial court rendered judgment that appellants, who were plaintiffs below, recover nothing as against appellee. An appeal was perfected from this judgment to the Court of Civil Appeals for the Fifth district at Dallas and was by the Supreme Court transferred to this court.

There are five assignments of error brought forward in appellants’ brief. The first assignment of error complains of the trial court, not sustaining appellants’ exception and objection to the court’s charge, to the effect that the court failed to submit to the jury charges on the issue of discovered peril. And the second assignment of error complains of the trial court’s refusal to sub[256]*256mit to the jury the special charges requested by the appellants on the issue of discovered peril.

Paragraph I of appellants’ exceptions and objections to the court’s charge is as follows :

“Plaintiff objects and excepts to the court’s charge, for the reason that the court should submit to the jury the issues on discovered peril heretofore tendered to the court for submission; that the issue of discovered peril is raised both by the pleadings and evidence in the case, and, in view of the defense of contributory negligence urged by defendant, the submission of discovered peril to the jury is indispensible to the establishment of plaintiff’s right to judgment in the event of an adverse finding on the issue of contributory negligence.”

Viewing the case as we do, we shall not attempt to pass upon the question whether or not appellants are entitled to both of the assignments of error above mentioned, that is to say, whether or not the record justifies appellants’ position in presenting an assignment of error to the failure of the court to charge the jury on the issue of discovered peril and an assignment of error to the refusal of the court to give the issues covering discovered peril which were actually presented to the trial court by the appellants. We do not pass upon these matters because we do not find evidence in the record sufficient to raise the issue of discovered peril.

As was said by this court in Shannon v. Horn, 92 S.W.(2d) 1090, in which we attempted to review and cited a number of authorities, it is not sufficient to show that the defendant or his agent could have discovered the perilous position of the injured party or ought to have discovered such perilous position. The evidence must be such that reasonable minds may be able to deduce therefrom the fact that the defendant or his agent actually discovered the perilous position of the injured party, and a recovery can only be had by finding that the defendant or his agent was guilty of negligence in not employing all of the means at his hands, consistent with his own safety and the safety of his vehicle and the passengers, if any therein, after such discovery.

In the case before us, the collision occurred at approximately midday; appellee’s motorman admits that he saw Mrs. Autry coming west on Center street, approaching Zang boulevard, on which he was operating the street car, just as he slowed the street car down and reached the intersection of the two streets, and that Mrs. Aut-ry’s automobile was approximately' 75 feet from the intersection.

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98 S.W.2d 254, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/autry-v-dallas-railway-terminal-co-texapp-1936.