Borho v. Austin Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co.

260 S.W.2d 110, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1921
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 15, 1953
Docket10154
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 260 S.W.2d 110 (Borho v. Austin Laundry & Dry Cleaning 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
Borho v. Austin Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co., 260 S.W.2d 110, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1921 (Tex. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

ARCHER, Chief Justice.

This suit was instituted by John M. Bor-ho and wife, Mae Borho, plaintiffs, against Austin Laundry & Dry Cleaning Company, a corporation, and Buford Kidder, defend *111 ants, to recover damages for injuries suffered by Mrs. Borho and for damages to an automobile, growing out of a collision at an intersection in Austin, Texas.

It was alleged that Mrs. Borho was driving west on Stobaugh Lane, and that defendant Kidder, an employee of his co-defendant, the Laundry Company, was driving a truck belonging to the company north on Watson Street, and that the collision occurred at the intersection, occasioned by the negligence of Kidder while acting within the scope of his employment, in failing to stop or slacken the speed of his truck before the collision, in driving at a rate of speed greater than an ordinary prudent person would have under similar circumstances, in failing to yield the right of way, and in failing to keep a proper lookout.

The defendants filed a general denial and plead that the collision was caused by the negligent manner in which Mrs. Borho was operating her automobile, or, if not caused solely by such negligence, then such negligence was a proximate cause, and contributed thereto, and that Mrs. Borho was guilty of negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout, in failing to yield the right of way, in driving her automobile partially on the left side of the street, in operating her car at a greater rate of speed than was safe under the circumstances, 'because the plaintiff was unable to see approaching cars from the south since the southeast corner of the intersection was a blind corner, in failing to stop or slacken the speed of her automobile, in failing, after seeing the truck driven by Kidder, to stop in order to avoid the collision, and that all of said acts of negligence were a direct and proximate cause of said collision; and that in the alternative, the collision was the result of an unavoidable accident.

The trial was had with the aid of a jury and the jury answered the several issues submitted and fixed the plaintiffs’ damages at $4,884.10.

On motion of defendants, and based on findings of the jury, the court entered its judgment that the plaintiffs take nothing.

The appeal is before this Court on seven points assigned as error and are that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury that where automobiles enter an intersection from opposite roads at approximately the same time, the car on the right is entitled to the right of way, in refusing to grant a new trial to plaintiffs for various reasons.

The appellants requested the court to charge the jury that when two motor vehicles approach a street intersection the driver of a vehicle approaching the intersection shall yield the right of way to a vehicle that has entered the intersection from a different street; but, when two vehicles enter the intersection from different highways or streets at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right of way to the vehicle on the right.

The plaintiffs had alleged as acts of negligence and proximate causes of the collision and injuries, that the defendants’ driver failed to yield the right of way to Mrs. Borho’s car which had entered the intersection; and in failing to yield the right of way to the vehicle entering the intersection at approximately the same time from the right.

The appellees in their answer, among other defenses, plead that plaintiff, Mrs. Borho, was guilty of contributory negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout, in operating the automobile at a greater rate of speed than was reasonably safe under the existing circumstances, and particularly the fact that plaintiff was unable to see whether an automobile was approaching because of a blind comer at the intersection.

Plaintiffs plead that the defendant Kidder failed to keep a proper lookout, and was driving faster than an ordinary prudent person would have under similar circumstances.

The jury found in response to special issues that the defendant Kidder failed to keep a proper lookout; that this was negligence and a proximate cause of the collision.

*112 The jury also found that plaintiff Mrs. Borho failed to' keep a proper lookout; that this was negligence and a proximate cause of the collision.

The jury further found that both the defendant Kidder and the plaintiff Mrs. Borho each was driving at a greater rate of speed than an ordinary prudent person would have driven under the same circumstances, and that such was a proximate cause of the collision.

The jury found that plaintiff’s car entered the intersection at approximately the same time as defendant’s truck entered the intersection and that the failure of defendant Kidder to yield the right of way to Mrs. Borho was negligence and a proximate cause of the collision.

The jury found that plaintiff’s car did not enter the intersection before defendant’s truck entered such intersection.

At the scene of the collision, Stobaugh Lane runs westerly and is 30 feet wide; Watson Street extends north and south intersecting Stobaugh and is 27 feet wide.

At the southeast corner of the intersection of the two streets there was a fence line of cedar trees running along both of the streets for at least a distance of 75 feet on each side, obstructing the view from one street to the other.

Both Mrs. Borho and Mr. Kidder were familiar with the streets and the intersection. There were no traffic signs at the intersection.

We do not believe that it was incumbent upon the court to instruct the jury as to which of two automobiles entering an intersection at the same time has the right of way in this case. Such instructions were not necessary to enable the jury to properly pass upon and render a verdict and, in this instance, the jury answered the issues favorable to appellants and no harm resulted to the appellants and would not have aided the jury in answering the issue.

The right of way issues were answered favorable to appellants and they cannot complain of the failure to instruct the jury as to the rights of the parties at the intersection.

The jury having answered the issues favorable to appellants and finding that the defendant Kidder failed to keep a proper lookout and that he drove his truck at a greater rate of speed than an ordinary prudent person would have driven it under the circumstances, and that these acts of negligence were a proximate cause of the collision and thereby established the liability of appellees, except for further findings that Mrs. Borho was guilty of contributory negligence in failing to keep a proper lookout and in driving her car at a greater rate of speed than an ordinary prudent person would have driven it under the circumstances and consequently the appellants would not be entitled to a judgment.

Rule 277, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, in part, reads:

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Bluebook (online)
260 S.W.2d 110, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/borho-v-austin-laundry-dry-cleaning-co-texapp-1953.