Bates v. Lagars

193 So. 2d 375
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 24, 1967
Docket10707
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 193 So. 2d 375 (Bates v. Lagars) 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
Bates v. Lagars, 193 So. 2d 375 (La. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

193 So.2d 375 (1966)

Fred BATES et ux., Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Courtney J. LAGARS et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 10707.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 29, 1966.
Rehearing Denied January 4, 1967.
Writ Refused February 24, 1967.

*377 Bodenheimer, Looney & Jones, Shreveport, for appellants.

Gahagan & Gahagan, Natchitoches, for appellees.

Before GLADNEY, AYRES and BOLIN, JJ.

AYRES, Judge.

This action for damages arose out of a motor vehicle collision during the night of August 21, 1965, on State Highway 1 north of Armistead. Directly involved were plaintiffs' Chevrolet station wagon and defendant Lagars' Ford. Indirectly involved was a pickup truck of defendant Harvey H. Samuels, Jr. Made defendant in addition to Lagars and Samuels was the latter's insurer, Casualty Reciprocal Exchange.

Plaintiffs' charges of negligence against Lagars and Samuels are based upon the acts of these defendants in the use of Lagars' vehicle to pull Samuels' truck back onto the highway from which it had skidded and run into the roadside ditch. More specifically, the charges consist of the blocking of the highway on a dark, rainy night without warning to traffic, either by the placement of flares or the stationing of a flagman, and of not maintaining a proper lookout. Samuels and his insurer, after denying that Samuels was guilty of negligence contributing to the occurrence, pleaded, in the alternative, that plaintiff Fred Bates, the driver of plaintiffs' vehicle, was guilty of contributory negligence by virtue of his excessive speed and his failure to *378 keep a proper lookout or to maintain control of his vehicle. Lagars made no formal appearance at the trial.

After trial and on confirmation of a default against Lagars, the plea of contributory negligence on the part of the remaining defendants was sustained and the demands of plaintiff Fred Bates against them were rejected. There was judgment, however, in favor of plaintiff Mrs. Doris Bates against Lagars, Samuels, and the Casualty Reciprocal Exchange, in solido, in the principal sum of $3,000.00. From this judgment, Samuels and his insurer appealed. Plaintiffs have answered the appeal, praying that the award in favor of Mrs. Bates be increased to $10,000.00, that the judgment rejecting plaintiff Fred Bates' demands be reversed and that he be awarded damages in the sum of $2,134.14.

It appears appropriate to first point out that plaintiff Fred Bates did not appeal from the judgment rejecting his demands. Defendants' appeal is from the judgment rendered against them in favor of Mrs. Bates. The answer of Fred Bates to this appeal is ineffective to bring before this court the issues which existed between him and the defendants in the trial court. In Billiot v. Noble Drilling Corporation (La. App.) 102 So.2d 569 (Orl.1958—writs granted and judgment reversed on grounds other than those for which the case is cited [236 La. 793, 109 So.2d 96 (1959)]), a husband and wife instituted an action to recover damages on their own behalf as well as on behalf of their minor children. The individual demands of the husband and wife were rejected, but there was judgment in favor of the minors. The defendants appealed. With reference to the wife's answer to the appeal, wherein she prayed for an amendment of the judgment so as to allow her claim for personal injuries, the court stated:

"Since no appeal was or could be taken by the defendants [from the judgment] in their favor against her, and since she did not take an appeal, her answer is ineffective to bring her before this Court."

On behalf of the defendants-appellants, Samuels and his insurer, it is urged that no independent acts of negligence were established against Samuels in allowing his truck to leave the highway; nor, it is claimed, was there established any basis for holding Samuels responsible for Lagars' acts under the doctrine of respondeat superior or under the principles governing joint adventure or joint tort-feasors.

That Samuels was free of negligence in the occurrence wherein his vehicle left the highway abundantly appears from the record. The night was dark and the surface of the highway was wet and slippery. Samuels, in his pickup truck, was proceeding in a southerly direction on the highway when a preceding vehicle, whose driver remains unknown, suddenly stopped in front of him, whereupon, to avoid a rearend collision, Samuels applied his brakes and his vehicle skidded off the highway, coming to rest in the west roadside ditch with its front facing in a northerly direction about six to ten feet from the highway surface.

While Samuels' truck was in this position, Lagars, who was also proceeding in a southerly direction, observed, in passing, that someone was in trouble. Hence, he reversed his course, returned to the scene, and offered assistance. Lagars, with the assistance of Samuels' truck's own power, endeavored to hand push the truck back onto the highway. This effort failed.

The driver of a third vehicle stopped and likewise offered his assistance. He and Lagars, again with Samuels applying the truck's own power, endeavored to hand push the vehicle back onto the highway, but were unable to do so. The third motorist, whose identity remains unknown, suggested an effort be made to pull the truck onto the highway and furnished a chain to be attached to the Lagars' vehicle for that purpose. This chain was attached to the *379 front of Samuels' truck and the rear of Lagars' vehicle. Samuels, occupying the driver's position in his truck, started his engine and Lagars began to pull, whereupon the chain came unfastened. The unidentified motorist reattached the chain, whereupon Lagars glanced to the rear to ascertain that the chain was tight before applying the power of his vehicle, while Samuels remained in his truck, with his engine running, to give assistance. At this point, plaintiffs' vehicle, approaching from the north, struck the Lagars vehicle. Following the accident, the Lagars car extended about six feet upon the concrete surface and angled across the highway. Bates' station wagon was also upon the highway. The right fronts of the vehicles sustained the major damages inflicted upon the cars.

The judgment of the trial court, predicated upon findings that defendant Lagars was negligent and that plaintiff Fred Bates was contributorily negligent, is final as to them inasmuch as neither appealed.

However, as to the appellants, Samuels and his insurer, the question of the negligence vel non of Lagars is presented as an issue. The record establishes and it is conceded that the effort to pull Samuels' truck back onto the highway was conducted without the placement of flares or other warning devices and without the services of a flagman to warn motorists of the danger inherent in such a maneuver. Neither Samuels nor Lagars saw the Bates vehicle prior to the impact.

Under ordinary circumstances the primary duty of avoiding a collision rests upon the driver of a vehicle entering a public highway. The law is clear that he shall yield the right of way to all approaching traffic so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. LSA-R.S. 32:124. We can conceive of no less duty upon those engaged in pulling a disabled vehicle back onto the highway. Obviously, the danger is even greater and requires the exercise of extraordinary precaution. A driver engaged in such an activity should maintain a constant lookout for vehicular traffic upon the highway and not enter the highway until it becomes apparent to him that he can do so safely.

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Bluebook (online)
193 So. 2d 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bates-v-lagars-lactapp-1967.