Beerley v. Hamilton

17 Pa. D. & C.3d 332, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 177
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedNovember 24, 1980
Docketno. 2202
StatusPublished

This text of 17 Pa. D. & C.3d 332 (Beerley v. Hamilton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beerley v. Hamilton, 17 Pa. D. & C.3d 332, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 177 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1980).

Opinion

WRIGHT, J.,

This action of trespass arises from a motor vehicle accident that occurred on November 8, 1975 around 11:00 p.m. in the northeast section of Philadelphia. Although four vehicles were involved in varying degrees, the facts are relatively uncomplicated.

It appears from the evidence that defendant, George W. Hamilton, was the operator of an automobile proceeding north on Oxford Avenue and defendant, Amos G. Hand, wg.s driving his car west on Pratt Street. The two vehicles collided in the intersection and the Hamilton vehicle then traveled from 148 feet to 168 feet across Oxford Avenue striking the rear of a SEPTA bus standing in the curb lane on the northwest corner of Pratt Street and Oxford Avenue and facing south on Oxford Avenue. It then struck the car of Allen Talley, which was also facing south on Oxford Avenue and standing beside and to the rear of the bus. Plaintiff, Stephen Beerley, was a passenger in the Talley vehicle.

Stephen Beerley has sued Hamilton and Hand. Defendant Hand cross-filed, against Hamilton and also filed a complaint joining Allen Talley as an additional defendant. The case was tried before a jury and at the conclusion of the evidence, the court granted defendant Talley’s motion for a nonsuit.

The jury after deliberátion returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff Beerley against defendant Hamilton alone in the amount of $200,000. The court had [334]*334submitted an interrogatory to the jury asking them to indicate what amount of the verdict consisted of future lost earnings. The jury responded $50,000. The court being of the opinion that the evidence did not warrant a verdict for future lost earnings, reduced the jury’s verdict to $150,000.

Defendant Hamilton has filed a motion for new trial assigning as reasons 21 errors by this court. However, in his supporting brief, only six of the alleged errors are addressed.

Plaintiff Beerley has filed a post-trial motion requesting the court to reinstate the $50,000 awarded for future lost earnings capacity. He also requests the court to add to the jury verdict an amount for damages for delay under Pa.R.C.P. 238.

• We address initially the six assignments of error briefed by defendant in support of his motion for new trial.

I.

Defendant Hamilton’s Post-Trial Motion

Defendant has excepted to the court’s instruction to the jury that they must find one or both of defendants negligent and that such negligence was a proximate cause of the accident. It is undisputed that the accident herein occurred at a controlled busy intersection. Also undisputed is the law governing motor vehicles entering such intersections. See Wright v. SEPTA, 239 Pa. Superior Ct. 165, 361 A. 2d 389 (1976); Smith v. United News Co., 413 Pa. 243, 196 A. 2d 302 (1964). It is clear and unequivocal. The jury was charged:

“The duty to proceed at the intersection is subject to the paramount duty of exercising due care and caution as to others who may be in the intersection. [335]*335A driver should not proceed if he sees or with reasonable diligence should see, and that’s what we mean by effective observation, that such proceeding will probably result in an accident.
“In short, members of the jury, drivers approaching crossings, that is intersections, must be highly vigilant and must maintain such control that on the shortest possible notice they can stop to avoid an accident.”

In the case at bar both defendant Hand and defendant Hamilton were in the intersection. Plaintiff Beerley was a passenger in a stopped vehicle. Obviously no question of his negligence arises. Thus, one or both of defendants were responsible for the accident which doubtlessly caused plaintiff’s injuries. That a defendant’s conduct (if found by the jury to be negligent) was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff is normally a jury question, but it may be removed from the jury’s consideration where it is clear that reasonable minds could not differ on the issue: Hamil v. Bashline, 481 Pa. 256, 266, 392 A. 2d 1280, 1285 (1978). We find such a situation here.

Defendant Hamilton next contends that the court erred in granting defendant Talley’s motion for nonsuit. Again the evidence is undisputed that the car driven by Talley was standing beside a bus in a proper place on the highway. There is absolutely no evidence to lead a jury to conclude that Talley was negligent. In this Commonwealth a nonsuit is proper if the jury viewing all the evidence, and all reasonable inferences arising from it, in a light most favorable to plaintiff could not reasonably conclude that the elements of the cause of action have been met: Herman v. Horst, 255 Pa. Superior Ct. 232, 386 A. 2d 594 (1978); Reuther v. Fowler [336]*336and Williams, Inc., 255 Pa. Superior Ct. 28, 386 A. 2d 119 (1978); Ford v. Jeffries, 474 Pa. 588, 379 A. 2d 111 (1977). .

We see no error here in the granting of the non-suit as the case eminently falls within the above principle of law.

We next address ourselves to defendant’s contention that the court committed error in allowing lay witnesses to testify to the speed of defendant Hamilton’s automobile. As a general rule the admission or exclusion of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court, to be reversed on appeal, only for a clear abuse of discretion: Westerman v. Stout, 232 Pa. Superior Ct. 195, 335 A. 2d 741 (1975). Opinion evidence as to speed is admissible if the witness presents requisite qualifications, viz., an observation of the vehicular movement in question and a recognition of impressions of like vehicular movement in question and a recognition of impressions of like vehicles at relative speeds: Radogna v. Hester, 255 Pa. Superior Ct. 517, 388 A. 2d 1087(1978). In this case, the question concerning the speed of the automobile was raised on cross-examination of the bus driver by counsel for defendant Hand. Defendant Hamilton did not object and it was only after the answer was given that Hamilton’s counsel sought to have the testimony stricken. We denied the motion to strike as being untimely as one may not wait until the answer'to a question is given and then if the answer proves harmful seek to have it stricken: James v. Spidle, 446 Pa. 103, 286 A. 2d (1971).

The witness Kollmar was an experienced bus operator and is certainly presumed to have more expertise in judging speed of motor vehicles than the ordinary lay witness.

Defendant Hand, having been called on cross-[337]*337examination by plaintiff, was asked the length of time he had been driving a car, if he could judge the speed of cars based upon past experience, the distance he had observed the Hamilton vehicle, whether he had the opportunity to judge the speed of the vehicle and finally the speed of the Hamilton vehicle. None of these questions were objected to by defendant Hamilton.

It is of interest that defendant Hand stated that Hamilton was traveling 55-60 MPH while Kollmar stated only 35 MPH. In view of this one could hardly conclude that defendant Hamilton’s exceptions to Kollmar’s testimony are well taken, since there were no objections to the testimony of Hand as to Hamilton’s speed.

Defendant Hamilton next alleges that the court erred in its charge to the jury concerning future loss of earnings capacity and future pain and suffering.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 Pa. D. & C.3d 332, 1980 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beerley-v-hamilton-pactcomplphilad-1980.