Cannon v. Stout

257 So. 2d 454, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6493
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 31, 1972
DocketNo. 8697
StatusPublished

This text of 257 So. 2d 454 (Cannon v. Stout) 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
Cannon v. Stout, 257 So. 2d 454, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6493 (La. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

LOTTINGER, Judge.

This is a suit for damages resulting from an automobile collision. The petitioners are Garney H. Cannon, who sues individually and for and on behalf of his minor children, Kathy Cannon, Michael Cannon and Mark Cannon, and Mrs. Garney H. Cannon. The defendants are Alvin F. Loque, Jr., the driver of the vehicle; his employer, Ray’s T. V., Inc.; St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, the liability insurer of the vehicle and Raymond Stout, who was also alleged to be the owner of the vehicle which Loque was driving at the time of the accident.

The trial below was before a jury which rendered verdicts in favor of petitioners [456]*456and against defendants, Alvin F. Loque, Jr. and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Raymond Stout was dismissed as a party defendant upon an exception of no cause of action, and Ray’s T. V., Inc. was never served. The verdict of the jury and the judgment of the Court were in favor of petitioners in the following amounts:

Garney H. Cannon, $3,000;/ Mrs. Gar-ney H. Cannon, $4500;/ Kathy Cannon, $1500;/ Michael Cannon; $20,000;/ Mark Cannon, $3,000.

The defendants have appealed alleging the contributory negligence of Mrs. Cannon, who was the driver of the car in which the children were riding, and, in the alternative, alleging error in that the quantum is excessive.

The record discloses that a third party pleading was filed by St. Paul against the Zurich Insurance Company, the liability insurer of the Cannon vehicle, however, this third party demand was also dismissed below.

The record discloses that the accident in question occurred on March 2, 1967, at the intersection of Louisiana Highway 44 and Louisiana Highway 934, in the Parish of Ascension, State of Louisiana.

The facts disclose that Mrs. Cannon was traveling North on Louisiana Highway 44, the favored road, at a speed of approximately 40 to 50 miles per hour. The speed limit on Highway 44 was 60 miles per hour. A van truck driven by Alvin Loque, Jr., owned by Ray’s T. V., Inc. and insured by St. Paul, was at the same time proceeding West on Louisiana Highway 934, which is also called the Bayou Black Road. The speed limit on Bayou Black Road was 60 miles per hour and it is not known how fast the van was going, however, the evidence indicates that it was traveling at a considerable rate of speed. There was a stop sign controlling westbound traffic on Bayou Black Road which was located approximately 93 feet back from the northeast corner of the intersection of Bayou Black Road with Louisiana Highway 44. The van driven by defendant, Loque, made no effort to stop or slow down at the stop sign but proceeded into the intersection. Mrs. Cannon attempted to swerve to the left in an effort to avoid the collision, however, the collision occurred at the center of the intersection. Following the impact, the Cannon vehicle traveled approximately 44 feet and the van approximately 100 feet.

There was a store on the southeast corner of the intersection with a parking lot in front of it, and at times, when cars were parked in the parking lot, westbound traffic on the Bayou Black Road was obstructed from the view of northbound drivers on Louisiana Highway 44. It is contended by St. Paul that Mrs. Cannon was guilty of contributory negligence.

It is now well established that a motorist proceeding on a favored road is not required to look out for traffic on the secondary roads but may rely on the assumption that the other motorist will obey the signal and stop. Stevens v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 242 La. 1006, 141 So.2d 346; Randall v. Baton Rouge Bus Company, 240 La. 527, 124 So.2d 535; Barrett v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., La.App., 236 So.2d 900, and Drago v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., La.App., 236 So.2d 570.

It is contended by St. Paul, however, that as Mrs. Cannon knew the intersection was a dangerous one, she was con-tributorily negligent.

In Davis v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, La.App., 191 So.2d 320, which is one of the cases relied upon by the defendants to support this contention, the Court said:

“Our courts have been reluctant to impose the duty of extraordinary care on the favored motorist without a clear showing that the construction of the in[457]*457tersection involved justified the placing of an additional burden on today’s already overtaxed motorist.”

Furthermore, in Gautreaux v. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company, La.App., 83 So.2d 667, the Court further said:

“In the everyday world, ordinarily prudent motorists on the main thoroughfare do not slow before each corner and attempt to peer down the sidestreets, but instead concentrate most of their attention on the path ahead, relying on their legal ‘right of way’. Legislative provisions for right of way are to facilitate the passage of traffic in this congested twentieth century world. If to accomplish this purpose, and in realization that even observing the path ahead may tax the ordinary motorists’ powers of sustained observation, the legislature has relieved the motorist on the right of way street of a duty ordinarily to slow before each intersection (and, consequently, of a duty to take his attention from the path ahead by darting glances each way down the intersecting streets), appellate courts should not supply artificial standards in an unrealistic attempt to allocate damages after an accident has occurred.”

Clarence Henry, who was riding as a passenger in the Cannon vehicle testified to the effect that the accident occurred so quickly that Mrs. Cannon did not have time to do anything other than what she did between the time that he first saw the approaching van and the collision.

Mrs. Evelyn Banker, who was an eye witness to the accident, testified that she was in her car in a parking lot at the grocery store and was in a better position to see the van than was Mrs. Cannon. Mrs. Banker was unable to testify what she would have done to avoid the accident had she been in Mrs. Cannon’s situation, however, she did testify that when she noticed the van approaching at that speed she knew that he would be unable to stop for the stop sign.

The basic law governing the facts of a controlled intersectional accident, as set forth in Barrett v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (supra) is as follows:

“A person who has the right of way has a right to assume that the traffic approaching an intersection on a less favored street will obey the rules of traffic and stop at a stop sign, and he can indulge in this presumption until he has seen, or should have seen, that the person was not going to comply with the law, and then have an opportunity thereafter to so maneuver his vehicle as to avoid the collision.”

We find nothing in the evidence which indicates that this was an intersection of such a peculiar nature as to take it from within the confines of the basic rule and, accordingly, we find that there was no error on the part of the jury in absolving Mrs. Cannon from any negligence, or contributory negligence.

Our jurisprudence is now firmly established to the effect that much discretion must be left to the Trial Judge or jury in the assessment of damages in torts. Gaspard v. LeMaire, 245 La. 239, 158 So.2d 149; Lomenick v. Schoeffler, 250 La. 959, 200 So.2d 127; Ballard v. National Indemnity Company, 246 La. 963, 169 So.2d 64.

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Related

Barrett v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co.
236 So. 2d 900 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1970)
Gaspard v. LeMaire
158 So. 2d 149 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1963)
Lomenick v. Schoeffler
200 So. 2d 127 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1967)
Ballard v. National Indemnity Company of Omaha, Neb.
169 So. 2d 64 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1964)
Miller v. Thomas
246 So. 2d 16 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1971)
Gautreaux v. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Co.
83 So. 2d 667 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1955)
Randall v. Baton Rouge Bus Company
124 So. 2d 535 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1960)
Stevens v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
141 So. 2d 346 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1962)
Davis v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
191 So. 2d 320 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1966)
Drago v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
236 So. 2d 570 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
257 So. 2d 454, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cannon-v-stout-lactapp-1972.