Burgess v. Strickland Transp. Co.

221 S.W.2d 333, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 1950
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 13, 1949
DocketNo. 15043
StatusPublished

This text of 221 S.W.2d 333 (Burgess v. Strickland Transp. 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
Burgess v. Strickland Transp. Co., 221 S.W.2d 333, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 1950 (Tex. Ct. App. 1949).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

Appellant Ben S. Burgess sued appellee Strickland Transportation Company, Inc. in a district court of Clay County, Texas, for personal injuries and property damage from a collision admittedly occurring between his truck-and one owned by appellee on or about the 24th day of August, 1946 in Clay County, Texas, while he was engaged in hauling asphalt to repair highway 287, at a point about 4 miles east of the town of Jolly in said County. He -alleged that as he drove his truck to the north side of the highway-preparatory to unloading said asphalt immediately in front of a maintain-er that his truck was struck by one owned by appellee. The undisputed evidence reveals that appellant’s truck was overturned and damaged and he was personally injured.

Appellee plead that appellant at the time or immediately before the collision was driving jn an easterly direction and turned his truck north, crossing the highway at a point where there was no intersection and where there was a large maintainer on the pavement which served to block the view of vehicles going from east to west; that appellant was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout; failing to stop his vehicle before going beyond the maintainer into the lane of traffic where appellee’s truck was being driven; failing to ■ have his truck under control before passing beyond the maintainer, and failing to sound any kind -of warning as he drove across the pavement in front of the maintainer; any one of all of said acts were a proximate cause of the collision; that the Public Construction Company failed to have a flagman at the place where the maintainer was; that such conduct was the sole proximate cause of the collision; that the collision was the result of an unavoidable accident; and, by trial amendment, that its employee was confronted with a sudden emergency.

Trial was to a jury and in answer to special issues it .found appellee’s truck was driven at an excessive rate of speed, that such speed was negligence and that same was a proximate cause of appellant’s in[334]*334juries; that appellee’s truck was not traveling at a speed in excess of 45 miles per hour, that such speed was negligence, and was a proximate cause of appellant’s injuries; that appellee’s truck driver ignored warning by the flagman to slow down, that such conduct was negligence, and was a proximate cause of appellant’s injuries; that appellee’s truck driver failed to keep a proper lookout, that such failure was negligence and a proximate cause of appellant’s injuries; that appellant failed to keep a proper lookout, that such failure was negligence and the same was a proximate cause of the collision; that appellant failed to stop his vehicle before going beyond the maintainer into the lane of traffic where appellee’s truck was being driven, that such failure was not negligence, but that the same was a proximate cause of the collision ; that appellant did not fail to have his truck under proper control before passing the maintainer; that appellant did not fail to sound any kind of warning as he drove across the highway in front of the maintainer; that the Public Construction Company did not fail to have a flagman at the place where the maintainer was stationed; that appellee’s truck driver was confronted with a sudden emergency; that $2,000 would reasonably compensate appellant for personal injuries and $1200 would reasonably compensate him for his property damage.

After the verdict was returned appellant filed his motions to disregard the verdict and for judgment non obstante veredicto.

Trinity Universal Insurance Company, the compensation carrier, intervened. Judgment being for appellee, appellant alone appeals, predicated upon four points of error.

We shall discuss 1 and 3 together as they seem to be related, as follows:

1. “The court should have disregarded the jury’s findings, in response to special issues 13, 14 and 15, to the effect that plaintiff failed to keep a proper lookout, that such failure was negligence, and that it wás a proximate cause of the collision, because the plaintiff, a workman on the highway at the time and intent upon his duties, was not obliged to keep a lookout for approaching traffic, there being barricades, signs, flares and three flagmen nearby to warn, caution and direct defendant’s driver and the traveling public of the hazards of the highway, the danger to the workmen, and the safe method of travel; but, on the contrary, the driver of defendant’s truck was required to exercise every care to guard and protect the plaintiff, as such a workman, from harm and injury.”

3. “The court should have entered judgment non obstante veredicto for plaintiff, upon his motion, because the findings of the jury are sufficient to support such a judgment and all are favorable to him, except those relative to his failure to keep a proper lookout. * * * ”

Under points 1 and 3 appellant’s contention seems to be that the court erred in rendering judgment against him because the jury’s answers to special issues 13, 14 and 15 convicted him of contributory negligence for failing to keep a proper lookout, which the jury found to be a proximate cause of the injuries, because he claims that as a workman upon the highway at the time he had his attention fixed upon his work and was under no compulsion or duty to keep a proper lookout and therefore-could not, be guilty of contributory negligence m failing to keep a proper lookout. On the other hand, appellee, under such circumstances, owed appellant the duty to protect him from harm, and being required, under such circumstances, to .avoid injury to any one working upon the highway, and. that' he, appellant, should have judgment because the jury found appellee’s truck driver guilty of excessive speed, failing to-obey the warning of the flagman to slow down, failing to keep a proper lookout, and. cites the following cases to support his contention : Chaney v. Moore, 101 W.Va. 621, 134 S.E. 204, 47 A.L.R. 800; Ostermeier v. Kingman-St. Louis Implement Co., 255-Mo. 128, 164 S.W. 218; 47 A.L.R. Annotated 809-810, Subsection b. We find, appellant’s contention not tenable.

The most that -can be said in favor of appellant pertaining to above cases which he cites.to support his contention is that in Chaney v. Moore it is -held by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. [335]*335that an operator of an automobile on a public road is bound to observe extraordinary conditions existing along the way and when warned by a sign that workmen are engaged in repairing a road he must sound his horn and approach the place where the workmen are so employed at such rate of speed and have his car under such control as to avoid injury to such workmen, and that such workmen on a road or street may rely upon the driver of an automobile to protect him and is not guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law for failure to observe negligence of a driver approaching him. Such holding places a greater degree of care upon the driver of the motor vehicle and the workmen on a public road have a right to rely on that degree of care by the operator. The court gave several wrong instructions to the jury in the Chaney case.

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Bluebook (online)
221 S.W.2d 333, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 1950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burgess-v-strickland-transp-co-texapp-1949.