Camatsos v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.

428 So. 2d 1320, 48 A.L.R. 4th 217
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 9, 1983
Docket82-641
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 428 So. 2d 1320 (Camatsos v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.) 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
Camatsos v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 428 So. 2d 1320, 48 A.L.R. 4th 217 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

428 So.2d 1320 (1983)

George J. CAMATSOS, Appellee-Appellant,
v.
The AETNA CASUALTY & SURETY COMPANY, et al., Appellants-Appellees.

No. 82-641.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 9, 1983.

*1321 Gold, Little, Simon, Weems & Bruser, Eugene J. Sues, Alexandria, for defendants-appellants-appellees.

Fuhrer & Flournoy, Leonard Fuhrer, Alexandria, for defendant-appellee-appellant.

Downs & Downs, James C. Downs, Alexandria, for plaintiff-appellee.

Gist, Methvin, Hughes & Munsterman, DeWitt T. Methvin, Jr., Alexandria, Michael D. Skarina, Aurora, Colo., for defendant-appellee.

Before CUTRER, FORET and KNOLL, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

This appeal arises from an award of damages for a wrongful death and personal injuries as a result of an automobile accident. Two suits were filed; Victor Camatsos v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Company et al., 428 So.2d 1372 a suit for the wrongful death of Steve Camatsos and the personal injuries he suffered; George Camatsos v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Company (hereafter referred to as Aetna), et al., a suit for the wrongful death of Steve Camatsos, the personal injuries Steve Camatsos suffered, and the personal injuries George Camatsos suffered as a result of the accident. The two suits were consolidated for trial. Initially, Aetna requested a trial by jury but subsequently waived the demand. The trial court awarded Dr. George Camatsos $59,500.00 for his personal injuries, $9,355.81 for his medical expenses, $35,000.00 for loss of income and $23,278.70 for his father's wrongful death, suffering, and funeral expenses. Thus, Dr. Camatsos's total award is $127,134.51. The trial court awarded Victor Camatsos $23,278.70 for his father's wrongful death, suffering, and funeral expenses. The trial court assigned written reasons for its judgment. We affirm.

*1322 The appellant, Aetna, urges: (1) the trial court erred in not finding George Camatsos guilty of independent contributory negligence; (2) the trial court erred in finding Toole liable in negligently entrusting the vehicle to Skarina; (3) the trial court erred in finding P & B Welding and Fabricating, Inc. vicariously liable, and (4) the trial court's award of damages was excessive. The appellees, George Camatsos and Victor Camatsos, answered the appeal contending the trial court's award of damages was inadequate.

FACTS

The accident occurred on Louisiana Highway # 28 when a tractor and trailer (18 wheeler) which was driven by Michael Skarina blocked both traffic lanes. Dr. George Camatsos's automobile struck the rear wheels of the trailer while passing another vehicle in a no passing zone.

The tractor and trailer are owned by P & B Welding and Fabricating, Inc. (hereafter referred to as P & B), a foreign corporation domiciled in Hope Hull, Alabama. The day preceding the accident Joe Toole, an employee of P & B, was instructed to deliver a load of steel to Fort Polk, Louisiana. Toole departed from Hope Hull at approximately 4:00 P.M. on December 30, 1980. He arrived at Fort Polk early the next morning.

Toole met Skarina, a soldier stationed at Fort Polk, around noon on December 31. Toole advised Skarina that he was uncertain as to the route he should take through Alexandria, Louisiana to return to Alabama. Skarina volunteered to assist Toole through Alexandria and proceed to lead him in his car. Somewhere between Fort Polk and Alexandria, Toole stopped his truck and offered Skarina a drink of whiskey. Skarina testified that he refused the drink and he was not sure if Toole took a drink.

After they reached Alexandria, Toole parked the truck (also referred to as rig) at the Rapides Parish Coliseum. They then proceeded to a liquor store in Skarina's car where each purchased a bottle of whiskey and returned to the parked rig. Toole allowed Skarina to drive the rig around the parking lot of the Coliseum.

Skarina advised Toole that he was going to a pig roast at a camp on Highway # 28 which was on Toole's route to Alabama. He invited Toole to stop at the camp to eat. Toole and Skarina got into Skarina's car at the intersection of Louisiana Highway # 28 and Stock Landing Road and drove to the camp. After they arrived at the camp, Toole gave Skarina the keys to the truck to bring it from the highway to the camp.

At Skarina's request, Toole allowed him to take the truck to Monterey, Louisiana to pick up Skarina's date. When Skarina arrived at Monterey his date was not home. Skarina, on his return to the camp, passed the intersection and drove to the Ryder Truck Stop where he could easily turn around. However, on the second attempt he passed the intersection again. Skarina decided to make a U-turn on the highway. When he attempted to do this the front wheels of the tractor went into the ditch and the back wheels became lodged against the trailer which caused the trailer to block the traveled portion of the highway in a perpendicular position. Further, the clearance lights on the side of the trailer were not illuminated. Skarina could not shift the truck into the proper power range to move it from the highway. Skarina left the truck to get help, and at approximately 7:30 P.M. the accident occurred with the Camatsos's automobile.

CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT

The trial judge, in his well written reasons for judgment, found that the sole cause of the accident was the obstruction of the highway by the tractor trailer. He states:

"This court finds that the sole cause of the accident was the obstruction of the highway by the tractor-trailer. Although Dr. Camatsos passed another vehicle in a no passing zone prior to the collision, this action was not a contributing cause of the accident. The passing manuever had been nearly completed when Dr. Camatsos first saw the flat bed trailer extending *1323 across the highway. The tractor's cab lights on the left side of the road gave no indication that the virtually invisible trailer extended across the right side of the road. The risk thereby created by the tractor-trailer was not one which the statute prohibiting passing on a yellow line was intended to protect against. Therefore, Dr. Camatsos' passing manuever was not a cause of the collision, and he cannot be held negligent to any degree. Charles v. LaVergne, 412 So2d 726."

The purpose of the no-passing zone at the point of the accident is a protection against collisions with oncoming vehicles. The risk and harm encountered by the truck must fall within the scope of protection of the statute in order that the violation of the highway safety statute by Dr. Camatsos results in actionable contributory negligence. Dixie Drive It Yourself System New Orleans Co. v. American Beverage Company, 242 La. 471, 137 So.2d 298 (La. 1962); Beraud v. Allstate Insurance Company, 251 So.2d 402 (La.App. 1st Cir.1971); Charles v. LaVergne, 412 So.2d 726 (La. App. 3rd Cir.1982). The risk encountered by the defendants clearly does not fall within the scope of protection of the statute.

AETNA'S LIABILITY

Aetna's policy provides in part:

"We will pay all sums the insured legally must pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage to which this insurance applies, caused by an accident and resulting from the ownership, maintenance or use of a covered auto."

In the case of American Home Assurance Company v. Czarniecki, 255 La.

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493 So. 2d 819 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
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445 So. 2d 1251 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1984)
Camatsos v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
428 So. 2d 1320, 48 A.L.R. 4th 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/camatsos-v-aetna-cas-sur-co-lactapp-1983.