Canton Broiler Farms, Inc. v. Warren

214 So. 2d 671, 1968 Miss. LEXIS 1322
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 14, 1968
Docket44987
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 214 So. 2d 671 (Canton Broiler Farms, Inc. v. Warren) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Canton Broiler Farms, Inc. v. Warren, 214 So. 2d 671, 1968 Miss. LEXIS 1322 (Mich. 1968).

Opinion

214 So.2d 671 (1968)

CANTON BROILER FARMS, INC. and Isaac Jones, Defendants, Appellants.
v.
Eley N. WARREN, Plaintiff, Appellee.

No. 44987.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 14, 1968.

*672 Cary E. Bufkin, Satterfield, Shell, Williams & Buford, Jackson, for appellants.

Tom S. Lee, Thomas D. Lee and Roy Noble Lee, Forest, for appellee.

PATTERSON, Justice:

This case was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Scott County. Eley N. Warren, the plaintiff, sought damages for personal injuries he received when the car in which he was riding as a passenger was involved in an accident with an overturned tractor-trailer truck and a pickup truck. The driver and the owner of the tractor-trailer truck appeal to this Court from a judgment of $5,000 against them.

Prior to dawn on October 31, 1967, a tractor-trailer truck owned by Canton Broiler Farms, Inc. and driven by Isaac Jones, its employee, overturned on Highway 43 between West Leesburg and Canton, Mississippi. The truck was loaded with crates of chickens and was traveling in a westerly direction toward Canton when it overturned. The trailer portion of the truck lay entirely off the highway and on the shoulder of the road. However, a portion of the overturned tractor extended some twelve to twenty-four inches into the westbound lane of the highway. According to some of the testimony there were crates of chickens lying in the westbound lane.

Immediately after the truck overturned, Jones made an inspection of the damages. Although there were flares and fusees in the truck, he did not place them in the highway as a warning to other vehicles as required by law. His reason for not doing so was that all the lights on the tractor and trailer were burning, this being sufficient, in the opinion of the witness, to alert any motorist to the obstruction in the highway. Other witnesses who passed the overturned truck testified that the lights of the truck were burning and visible for some distance. There is physical evidence that the trailer was equipped with several running lights or reflectors, but due to the position of the trailer, none of these lights was in the highway.

Shortly after the truck overturned, Jones left the scene in order to call a wrecker. While he was away, James C. Bailey, the owner of the pickup truck, passed the overturned tractor-trailer while on his way to work in Canton. After proceeding two or three miles, Bailey turned and came back to see if he could be of assistance. He stopped his pickup on the northern shoulder of the highway with the right front portion of the vehicle extending into the westbound lane some distance further than that of the overturned tractor. The pickup was facing eastward toward the front of the overturned truck. It was positioned so that the beam of its right headlight was directed toward the east and into *673 the westbound lane of traffic. Bailey testified that he parked his pickup in this position in order to see into the cab of the overturned tractor to ascertain if anyone was pinned therein. He testified further that his truck was left in neutral gear with the motor running.

Jones returned to his truck at about the time Bailey was parking his pickup. They then engaged in conversation while standing between the two trucks. Immediately thereafter H.D. Warren and his brother, Eley, approached from the east in a new Volkswagen. Eley Warren, the plaintiff, was riding as a passenger in the right front seat of his brother's car. The evidence reflects that as the two men in the Volkswagen approached the scene of the overturned truck they saw a beam of light which appeared to them to be in their lane of traffic. According to the testimony of the driver, H.D. Warren, he was driving at about forty miles per hour when he first observed the light. He testified that he continued to drive at about this speed until very close to the source of the light. As he approached the light he testified he reduced speed and moved to the right side of his lane, thinking that this would be sufficient to avoid what he thought to be a one-eyed car in his lane. About six feet from the truck he struck a chicken crate and at this point first saw the overturned tractor-trailer. He immediately swung back to the left in an attempt to avoid a collision. He struck the right front fender of the overturned tractor and then collided with the right front portion of the pickup. He at no time admitted seeing the lights of the overturned tractor-trailer and denied that he was "completely blinded" by the lights of the parked pickup truck.

The plaintiff testified that he was totally blinded by the beam of light, but that he did not remonstrate with the driver as to any precautionary measures he should take since, "he slowed down and I thought he was going to stop, but he kept going." He further testified that he did not see any lights on the overturned truck. There is a conflict in the evidence as to whether the driver of the Volkswagen later remarked to his brother and other witnesses that his vision was totally obscured by the beam of light.

The evidence is conflicting as to the point where the driver applied his brakes with such force as to lay down skid marks. The investigating officer attributed skid marks of some twenty-seven feet in the westbound lane to the Volkswagen. The driver testified he skidded only after striking a chicken crate which was very close to the overturned truck. The officer also testified, as did other witnesses, that the Volkswagen struck the overturned truck prior to colliding with the pickup. This is substantiated by paint of the truck being found on the Volkswagen. Jones testified that the blow from the Volkswagen was of such force as to knock the pickup to the south side of the road and turn it toward the west. The plaintiff and his brother both testified to the contrary, stating that Bailey drove his pickup to the south side of the road after the accident.

The plaintiff testified that he was thrown against the windshield or dashboard of the car in which he was riding when it struck the pickup truck. In addition, he testified that he was struck from behind by an outboard motor, weighing approximately seventy pounds, which had been lying on the back seat of the Volkswagen and was projected forward at the time of impact. As the result of this he claimed to have received injuries to the muscles and ligaments of his back and neck, as well as injuries to his right knee, right hand, right elbow, and various other bruises and contusions. This testimony was corroborated by that of Dr. G.G. Townsend who stated that he treated the appellee after the accident and that the plaintiff had in fact suffered the injuries complained of. He testified further that the injuries were painful and of a permanent nature. On cross-examination it was developed that the plaintiff had previously *674 suffered from arthritis and had prior injuries to his right knee and right hand.

The plaintiff brought suit against Canton Poultry, Inc., Canton Broiler Farms, Inc., Isaac Jones, the driver of the overturned tractor-trailer, James C. Bailey, the driver of the pickup truck, and H.D. Warren, the driver of the Volkswagen. He alleged that Jones was an agent and employee of Canton Poultry, Inc. and Canton Broiler Farms, Inc., the owner of the truck; that James C. Bailey was also an agent of said corporations.

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Bluebook (online)
214 So. 2d 671, 1968 Miss. LEXIS 1322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/canton-broiler-farms-inc-v-warren-miss-1968.