Bush v. Middleton

1959 OK 116, 340 P.2d 474, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 297
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 9, 1959
Docket38268
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 1959 OK 116 (Bush v. Middleton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bush v. Middleton, 1959 OK 116, 340 P.2d 474, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 297 (Okla. 1959).

Opinion

BLACKBIRD, Justice.

This is an action brought by Pearl Bush in the District Court of Woods County, Oklahoma, against defendants Stanley Kaczar and Phil Middleton, doing business as Phil Middleton Chevrolet Company, to recover personal injury damage alleged to have been caused by a collision of a car driven by her and owned by her husband and a car owned by Middleton and driven by defendant Kaczar. The collision occurred at the intersection of Elm and Missouri Streets, in the City of Waynoka, Oklahoma.

Plaintiff in her petition alleges that the defendant Kaczar was acting as the agent or servant of defendant Middleton while driving the car at the time the collision occurred. It is further alleged that the collision occurred the 17th day of November, 1955; that plaintiff was then driving her car in an easterly direction on Elm Street as it approached the intersection. Defendant Kaczar was driving the Middleton car in a southerly direction on Missouri Street and when he entered the intersection ran a stop sign and did not stop the car he was driving until it reached the center of the intersection and struck the car which plaintiff was driving.

Plaintiff in her petition charges defendant Kaczar with the following acts of negligence: that he drove the Middleton car at a reckless rate of speed as he entered the intersection and failed to yield the right of way; that the brakes on the car defendant Kaczar was driving were old, worn and defective and insufficient to stop the car and that said defects were known, or should have been known to defendant Kaczar and that he was guilty of negligence in driving the car in its defective condition over the highways and streets of Waynoka. In her petition against Middleton plaintiff alleges that said defendant owner of the car permitted defendant Kaczar to use and drive the car at the time the collision occurred; that said defendant knew, or should have known, that the brakes were faulty and would not stop the car and that he was guilty of negligence in permitting defendant Kaczar to use and drive the car while in such condition. Plaintiff, after alleging in detail the nature *476 of the injury sustained by her as a result of the collision and the amount of damages sustained by her by reason thereof, prayed judgment against defendants in the sum of $33,400.

Defendant Middleton filed an answer to plaintiff’s petition consisting of a general denial and a special denial that defendant Kaczar was his agent or servant while driving the car at the time the collision occurred. He further plead contributory negligence and unavoidable accident. Defendant Kaczar failed to plead or answer in the case and made no defense.

At the conclusion of the evidence offered by plaintiff, defendant Middleton demurred thereto on the ground that it was insufficient to authorize a recovery against him. The trial court sustained the demurrer and rendered judgment in favor of defendant Middleton and upon motion of plaintiff for judgment against defendant Kaczar entered judgment against him in the sum of $33,-400. Kaczar has not appealed from this judgment and the judgment as against him is now final.

Plaintiff has appealed from the order and judgment of the trial court sustaining defendant Middleton’s demurrer to the evidence and rendering judgment against her and in favor of said defendant Middleton, and contends that the trial court erred in sustaining defendant’s demurrer and in entering judgment in favor of said defendant.

The errors assigned require a review of the evidence.

Plaintiff in her own behalf testified that she was injured by a collision between an automobile owned by her husband and driven by her and an automobile owned by defendant Middleton and driven by defendant Kaczar; that immediately before the collision occurred she was driving her car in an easterly direction on Elm Street in the City of Waynoka; that Elm Street was a through street protected by a “yield right of way” sign; that the driver of the Middleton car, Kaczar, was proceeding •south on Missouri Street; when he came to the intersection with Elm Street he was-traveling from twenty to twenty-five miles per hour. He failed to slow down or yield: the right of way to the plaintiff’s vehicle proceeding into the intersection and ran into the side of the vehicle driven by plaintiff with such force as to knock her vehicle sideways causing some injuries to her person.

Defendant Kaczar, an immigrant from Poland who came to this country in 1949,. testified that just prior to the accident he-had been to defendant Middleton’s place of business to look for a used car to purchase; that Middleton was then engaged' in the business of selling new and used automobiles and operating a garage. He testified that Middleton showed him a 1948 Studebaker automobile later involved in the accident, and asked Kaczar if he would like to take the vehicle home to show it to-his wife. Kaczar then drove the vehicle from defendant Middleton’s garage to take it home and drove two blocks west and two-blocks south from defendant’s garage to-the intersection of Missouri and Elm Streets where the accident occurred. He further testified that he saw the yield the right of way sign and as he drove up to the sign he attempted to stop. He put his foot on the brake to try to stop and the brake would not hold. He pushed the brake down as far as he could and still it would not hold, but kept on sliding and slid to the center of the intersection and hit the car plaintiff was driving before it stopped. He told the Chief of Police, who was then present investigating the accident, that the accident was caused because the brakes on the car he was driving would not hold. After the accident Kaczar took the vehicle back to defendant Middleton and told him of the accident and how it occurred. Middleton then told him that the reason the accident occurred was because he did not know how to drive. Kaczar then told him the accident occurred because the brakes were defective and insufficient to stop the car. Defendant Middleton then told him the brakes were in fair shape and said he would show him how to use the *477 brakes. He then entered the car and pumped three or four times and he then pushed the car slow while Middleton was pumping the brakes and the brakes then worked and Middleton told him that was the way the brakes were supposed to work and he replied that was not right for his driving. The evidence further shows that Kaczar several months thereafter, after the brakes were repaired and put in proper condition, purchased the car from Middleton.

We think the evidence of defendant Kaczar to the effect that after the accident occurred he took the car back to defendant Middleton and told him of the accident and told him that it occurred because the brakes on the car were defective and would not stop the car, and that Middleton thereafter told him that the brakes were in fair shape and then proceeded to pump up the brakes in order to make them work and informed Kaczar, “that’s the way the brakes are supposed to operate,” constitutes evidence sufficient to take the case to the jury on the question of whether defendant Middleton knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care should have known the brakes on the car were defective and would not stop the car and as to whether the defective brakes were the proximate cause of the collision.

Tit. 47 O.S.19S7 Suppl. § 148(a) provides :

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Bluebook (online)
1959 OK 116, 340 P.2d 474, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bush-v-middleton-okla-1959.