Bankston v. Baton Rouge Bus Co.

58 So. 2d 232, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 540
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 24, 1952
DocketNo. 3517
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 58 So. 2d 232 (Bankston v. Baton Rouge Bus Co.) 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
Bankston v. Baton Rouge Bus Co., 58 So. 2d 232, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 540 (La. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

DORÉ, Judge.

This case and the case of George Roundtree v. Baton Rouge Bus Co., Inc., La.App, 58 So.2d 238, arise out of a collision, between a bus of the Baton Rouge Bus Com[233]*233pany, Inc., being driven by Felbert Daigle, its employee, in the course of his employment, and a truck of the State Highway Department being driven by George Round-1 tree, accompanied by Edward Bankston, Jr., in the course of their employment by the Louisiana Department of Highways. As a result of the collision, George Roundtree sustained severe personal injuries for which he sues the Baton Rouge Bus Company, Inc., and Edward Bankston, Jr., also sustained personal injuries for which he sues the bus company, both plaintiffs alleging that the accident was caused by the sole negligence of Felbert Daigle, the driver of the city bus. Since the two suits involve the same accident and the same facts, they were consolidated for trial, with a separate decree to be rendered.

The collision occurred on February 15, 1951 in the 4700 block of Florida Street in the City of Baton Rouge, at approximately 12:00 noon at which time it was misting rain. Florida Street is a four-lane highway, with two lanes for eastbound traffic and two lanes for westbound traffic with a neutral ground sixteen (16) feet in width. Prior to the accident, the city bus was proceeding in an easterly direction on the south, or outside, lane, that is the slow lane of Florida Street, and the Highway truck was proceeding also in an easterly direction on the north or inside lane, that is the fast lane of Florida Street, at some distance to the rear of the city bus. At the immediate situs of the accident there was a gap in the nuetral ground 48 feet in width for the purpose of permitting traffic going east on Florida Street to return west or traffic going west on Florida Street to return east. The usual route of the city bus called for a turn at the corner of Foster Drive and North Boulevard, a few blocks east of this gap, but due to a bridge being temporarily out on North Boulevard, the city bus was unable to follow its usual route, and as a temporary measure, adopted the aforesaid gap in the neutral ground in order to make a turn and return in a westerly direction. It is shown that in executing this left turn the bus driver made a U-tum from the right hand or southernmost traffic lane on the eastbound side of the neutral ground, on which he had been proceeding all along, and that as his bus had turned onto the neutral ground with the rear thereof protruding at least five (5) feet (as admitted by the bus driver) onto the north or inside lane for eastbound traffic, the truck, which vvas proceeding in that lane struck the rear corner of the bus resulting in the personal injuries complained of in these two cases by the plaintiff Roundtree and the plaintiff Bankston.

As heretofore stated, the plaintiffs alleged that the accident was caused solely by the negligence of the driver of defendant’s bus and particularly in the following respects:

“a. He failed to keep a proper lookout.

“b. He made a left turn from the improper lane of travel.

“c. He made a left turn across the path of petitioner without determining the presence of approaching traffic.

“d. He made a left turn from the improper lane of travel without signaling his intention to do so.'

“e. He made a left turn without first ascertaining that it was safe to do so.

“f. He failed to keep the bus under proper control.

“g. He operated said bus in a careless and reckless manner without due regard to the safety of others in the vicinity at that time.”

The plaintiff Edward Bankston, Jr., claims the sum of $5,701.25 for his injuries and medical expenses and the plaintiff George Roundtree claims the total sum of $30,510 for his injuries, medical expenses and loss of earnings.

In each case, Coal Operators Casualty Company, the workmen’s compensation insurer of the Louisiana Department of Highways, intervened, claiming the amount of its legal subrogation for workmen’s compensation and medical expenses paid, or to be paid, and in its petition of intervention, adopted the allegations of the petitions of plaintiffs.

The defendant, in its answer to each suit, admitted the occurrence of the accident but denied any negligence on the part of its bus driver, alleging that the accident was [234]*234caused by the sole negligence of plaintiff Roundtree, and in the Roundtree suit, the defendant, in the alternative, pleaded that in the event its driver was found guilty of negligence, proximately causing the accident, then and in that event, plaintiff Roundtree should be found guilty of contributory negligence in bar of recovery, particularly in the following respects:

“(a) Plaintiff was operating the said truck- at an excessive, reckless and unlawful rate of speed.

“(b) Plaintiff failed to keep a proper lookout and to see and observe the presence of the said bus on the highway ahead of him.

“(c) Plaintiff failed to keep the said truck under reasonable control in disregard of the said bus and any other vehicles in the vicinity of the said accident.

“(d) Plaintiff failed to apply brakes or attempt to stop or turn to his right or otherwise attempt to avoid collision, although he had full opportunity to do so, and although he saw or should have seen the said bus attempting to execute a turn from the said highway.

“(e) Plaintiff was operating said truck in a careless, reckless and inattentive manner without due regard for the safety of others using the said highway in the vicinity of the accident”

Following the trial, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff Bank-ston in the amount of $2,000 and also allowed the amount which it had been stipulated was due to the intervenor for its compensation subrogation. In the Round-tree case, judgment was rendered in favor of defendant rejecting the demands of Roundtree and of the intervenor. In each case a rehearing was applied for by the party cast. With the exception of adjusting the allowance of intervenor’s demands in the Bankston case, covering minor medical expenses, the rehearings were refused. The defendant, Baton Rouge Bus Company, Inc., has appealed from the adverse judgment in the Bankston case, while the plaintiff George Roundtree, and the intervenor, Coal Operators Casualty Company, have appealed from the adverse judgment m the Roundtree case.

The first question to consider on appeal is whether or not the trial judge committed any manifest error in finding that Felbert Daigle, driver of the city bus, was guilty of negligence which was a proximate cause of the collision. The contention of the plaintiffs is not only that the said Daigle was guilty of negligence which was a proximate cause of the accident but that said negligence was the sole proximate cause thereof. The defendant, on the other hand, contends that the driver of its bus was guilty of no negligence but that even if he were guilty of negligence, that such negligence was not the proximate cause of the accident and that the accident was caused solely by the gross negligence of the truck driver, plaintiff Roundtree, particularly in driving at an excessive rate of speed and in failing to keep a proper lookout.

In so far as the driver Daigle is concerned, it seems clear to us that on his own testimony he convicts himself of gross negligence.

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Roundtree v. Baton Rouge Bus Co.
58 So. 2d 238 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1952)

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Bluebook (online)
58 So. 2d 232, 1952 La. App. LEXIS 540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankston-v-baton-rouge-bus-co-lactapp-1952.