Breshers v. DOTD, State of La.

536 So. 2d 733, 1988 WL 133869
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 14, 1988
Docket87-1040
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 536 So. 2d 733 (Breshers v. DOTD, State of La.) 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
Breshers v. DOTD, State of La., 536 So. 2d 733, 1988 WL 133869 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

536 So.2d 733 (1988)

William BRESHERS, Individually and on Behalf of his minor son, William Dino Breshers, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT, STATE OF LOUISIANA, et al, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-1040.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 14, 1988.
Rehearing Denied January 31, 1989.

*734 Broussard, Bolton & Halcomb, Dorwan Vizzier, Alexandria, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Wilson & Walker, Gregory H. Walker, Alexandria, Watson, Murchison, ETC, Joseph B. Stamey, Natchitoches, Thomas G. Wilson, Colfax, William Guste, Baton Rouge, for defendants-appellees.

Before GUIDRY, FORET and KNOLL, JJ.

GUIDRY, Judge.

On June 12, 1977, William Dino Breshers (hereafter Dino) was riding as a guest passenger on a motorcycle operated by another minor, George Breaux, Jr., when it collided with a pickup truck owned and driven by John M. Wardlow. The accident occurred on a country lane in Grant Parish. Dino sustained serious personal injuries as a result of the accident. His father, William C. Breshers, instituted this suit against John M. Wardlow and his insurer, Commercial Union Insurance Company (hereafter Commercial Union); Grant Parish Police Jury and its insurer, Northeastern Fire Insurance Company; Town of Montgomery and its insurer, Market Insurance Company; and, the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development (hereafter DOTD).[1] All defendants filed cross-claims, one *735 against the other, and third party demands against the Breauxs. Additionally, defendants, Wardlow, Commercial Union and Grant Parish Police Jury, reconvened against William C. Breshers and Dino urging their contributory negligence. The State of Louisiana, through the Department of Health and Human Resources (hereafter DHHR), filed a petition of intervention seeking recovery of certain medical expenses incurred by it on behalf of William Dino Breshers. DHHR subsequently dismissed its intervention insofar as concerns DOTD.

The trial court, by judgment dated January 14, 1987, dismissed all of plaintiffs' demands against DOTD as well as all incidental demands filed by or against DOTD. Thereafter the matter proceeded to bifurcated trial against all remaining defendants. A jury unanimously found defendant, John M. Wardlow, free of any fault or negligence. The trial judge concluded that defendants, Grant Parish Police Jury and the Town of Montgomery, were also free of any fault or negligence. Accordingly, on June 15, 1987, the trial court rendered judgment dismissing plaintiffs' demands against all remaining defendants and likewise dismissed all cross-claims and incidental demands filed by or against all parties. Plaintiffs alone appealed from both judgments.

FACTS

On June 12, 1977,[2] George Breaux, Jr., a minor-unlicensed driver, was operating a motorcycle owned by his father, George Breaux, Sr., in a northerly direction on Rogers Lane in Grant Parish, Louisiana. Dino Breshers was a passenger on that motorcycle. The Breaux motorcycle was being operated abreast of another motorcycle being driven in the same direction by Greg Roberts with Darren McManus as a passenger. With the Breaux motorcycle on the left, the two motorcycles proceeded in a northerly direction up a straightaway to a curve in Rogers Lane. Just as Breaux was beginning to slow down with the intention of falling behind the Roberts' motorcycle in order to negotiate the curve, the motorcycles were met by a 1975 Ford pickup truck driven by John M. Wardlow which was proceeding in a southerly direction on Rogers Lane. Breaux veered to his left and Wardlow, in an attempt to avoid the motorcycles, braked and veered to his right. The right front of the Wardlow truck collided with Breaux's motorcycle near the western edge of the roadway between the blacktop and the shoulder. Both the Breaux motorcycle and Dino Breshers were pinned under the Wardlow truck. As a result of the accident, Dino suffered a traumatic amputation of his right leg below the knee; a fracture of the femur of his right leg; an open fracture of the distal tibia and fibula of the left leg; a large skin injury to the lower left leg; and, a concussion.

Rogers Lane is a dead-end country lane which does not connect with any major thoroughfare. It begins at some point within the corporate limits of the Town of Montgomery and dead-ends at the entrance to the John Wardlow farm. Rogers Lane serves as an ingress and egress route for approximately eleven or twelve families. According to the record, Rogers Lane was originally a narrow lane, described by some witnesses as a "pig trail". Rogers Lane was eventually graveled and later blacktopped. At the accident site, the blacktopped surface of Rogers Lane is only twelve feet wide, with no center line or traffic control signs. At the time of accident, the shoulders of Rogers Lane were severely overgrown with tall brush and trees all the way up to the edge of the blacktopped surface. This overgrowth of vegetation severely restricted sight around the curve.

On appeal, plaintiffs urge trial error in the following particulars:

1. The jury erred when it found John M. Wardlow free of any fault in causing the accident.
2. The trial judge erred when he determined that the maintenance of Rogers Lane, at the site of the accident, was not the responsibility of the Grant Parish Police Jury.
*736 3. Alternatively, the trial court erred when it determined that the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation and Development and/or the Town of Montgomery was without responsibility for the maintenance of Rogers Lane.

ISSUE NO. 1

Appellants contend that the jury erred in finding that defendant, John M. Wardlow, was free of fault or negligence in causing the accident.

The record reflects that Wardlow was traveling in a southerly direction near the middle of the road on Rogers Lane at approximately 25 miles per hour. When Wardlow rounded the curve, he observed the two oncoming motorcycles riding abreast. Wardlow immediately veered to the right and applied his brakes. Breaux veered to the left. The vehicles collided on the west side of the roadway between the blacktop and the shoulder.

Plaintiffs' own traffic expert analyzed Wardlow's actions leading up to the accident and concluded that Wardlow did what a prudent driver would have done. He stated that given the narrow width of Rogers Lane and the overgrown condition of the foliage along the roadside, Wardlow positioned his vehicle near the center of the road, as most drivers would have in negotiating the curve. He further testified that the motorcycles, positioned two abreast on the road, presented an unsafe condition and that Wardlow had no control over Breaux's decision to veer left. Plaintiffs' expert concluded that because of the overgrown condition of the foliage along Rogers Lane, the road was unreasonably dangerous because vehicles were unable to see other vehicles far enough around the curve.

Our careful review of the record in this case reveals no clear error in the jury's determination that John Wardlow was free of accident fault. Wardlow was traveling at a reasonable rate of speed. Although he was traveling near the middle of the narrow roadway, there is no evidence that, at the time of the accident, he was traveling on that portion of Rogers Lane reserved for south bound traffic.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
536 So. 2d 733, 1988 WL 133869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/breshers-v-dotd-state-of-la-lactapp-1988.