City Transp. Co. of Dallas v. Davis

257 S.W.2d 476, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2352
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 17, 1953
Docket3003
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 257 S.W.2d 476 (City Transp. Co. of Dallas v. Davis) 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
City Transp. Co. of Dallas v. Davis, 257 S.W.2d 476, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2352 (Tex. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

GRISSOM, Chief Justice.

On January 1, 1951, Arthur Davis, a Negro boy seven years of age, was hit and *477 injured by a taxicab owned by City Transportation Company of Dallas. Arthur and his mother recovered a judgment for $5,000 and $2,000 respectively, and said company has appealed.

The jury found, among other things, that the taxi driver (1) failed to keep a proper lookout, which was (2) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries; (5) failed to have the cab under control, (6) which was negligence and (7) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injury; (8) failed to stop his vehicle immediately prior'to striking Arthur and that this was (9) negligence and (10) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries and that the taxi driver (11) fáiled to apply his brakes “in time just prior to striking” Arthur and that this was (12) negligence and (13) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries.

The jury also found' that (17) the taxi was being driven twenty-five miles per hour but that (18) this was not negligence. It found (20) that Arthur did not run from behind another automobile into the path of the taxicab; (23) that Arthur did not attempt to cross I fall Street at a place which was not an iniersection; (26) that Arthur did not fail to keep a proper lookout for the taxicab and (29) that the collision was not the result of an unavoidable accident.

Appellant’s first to fourth points, inclusive, are that the evidence was insufficient to .sustain the answers to issues one, two, five, six, seven, nine, ten, twelve and thirteen ; that there was no evidence to support the answers to and the submission of said issues, and that the answers thereto are against the great preponderance of the evidence.

Briefly stated, appellees’ evidence was to the effect that Jewett Street runs east and west, with the east end running into and terminating on Hall Street; that Hall Street runs north and south; that about the middle of the day, after a rain but while it was still drizzling, Arthur walked down Jewett Street and stopped where it entered Hall Street, looked in both directions and, saw appellant’s taxicab coming toward him, going south, more than a block away; that he started walking east across Hall Street and' about the time he was in the center of 'the street, or about one step east of the center, appellant’s taxicab struck him, knocking him into the air and then striking him again, leaving him unconscious in the gutter on the east side of Hall Street; that the taxi driver did not apply his brake, did not slow his cab nor turn to the right or left before striking the boy; that, although it was misting rain, a person was easily visible for more than two blocks; that there were no skid marks on the pavement and the taxi driver did not apply his brakes before he hit the boy.'

The taxi driver testified that he did not see the boy until he appeared in the street only five or six feét in front of him; that the boy was running west across Hall Street with his sweater over his head and darted out from behind an automobile, which was going north, directly into the path of the taxicab. It is appellees’ contention, sustained by ample evidence, that the boy was walking east, not west, across Hall Street; that he did not have a sweater over.his head and he did not dart out from behind another car into the path of the taxicab; that the driver of the taxi did not blow his horn, did not turn to the right or left, did not apply his brakes or slow his cab before striking the boy, although he could have been seen by the taxi driver when he was more than a block away. -

After careful study of the statement of facts, we- conclude there was sufficient evidence to sustain the jury’s finding that the taxi driver (1) failed to beep a proper lookout, which was (2) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries; (5) that he failed to have the cab under control and (6) that this was negligence and (7) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries. It is undisputed that the taxi driver (8) failed, to stop the car immediately prior to striking Arthur, which was found as a fact by the jury, We further conclude that the: evidence is sufficient to sustain the finding that failure to stop was (9) negligence and (10) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries. The evidence sustains the finding that the driver (11) failed to apply his brakes in time just prior to striking Arthur and (12) that this was negligence and (13) a proximate cause of Arthur’s injuries. The evidence is such that the jury could have reasonably be *478 lieved that Arthur was properly crossing Hall Street, going east; that he could have been seen by the taxi driver, if he had been keeping a proper lookout, from the time Arthur stepped off the curb and entered Hall Street, when the taxi was more than a block away, until the cab struck the boy and that, if -the taxi driver had been keeping a proper lookout, he could have seen Arthur in time; that, by a prompt application of his brakes or turning, he could have stopped the cab or have avoided striking the boy. Appellant insists there is no evidence of where the taxicab was when Arthur entered Hall Street. Arthur testified that it was then about a block and a half away. Points one to four, inclusive, are overruled. See Rinn v. Holstrom, Tex.Civ.App., 243 S.W.2d 862; Sigmond Rothchild Co. v. Moore, Tex.Com.App., 37 S.W.2d 121; 5 Tex.Jur. 70S; 2 Tex.Jur. 10 Yr. Supp., page 169; Kimbriel Produce Co., Inc., v. Webster, Tex.Civ.App., 185 S.W.2d 198, 200 (RWM) ; Blunt v. H. C. Berning, Tex.Civ.App., 211 S.W.2d 773 (Writ Ref.).

Appellant’s fifth point is that the' court erred in permitting appellees to corroborate Viola Harris and Lela Baker by referring to and reading previous consistent testimony of said witnesses. The judgment appealed from was rendered on the third trial. The case had been previously tried in June and November, 1951. Appellant’s complaint, with reference to Viola Harris, is that appellees asked her the folio-wing question: “Now, Viola, in regard to these facts that you -have told the jury here, have you related those facts before since this accident happened from January until the present time” and that, over appellant’s objection, said witness was permitted to ■answer that she had “related these matters before * * * along about June 6” and after June 6th. The record reveals the following proceedings with reference to the introduction of such evidence:

“Q. Now, Viola, in regard to these facts that you have told the Jury here, have you related those facts before since this accident happened from January until the present time P

“Mr. Hartnett: We object to that, Your Honor.

“The Court: Read that question. (The last question propounded is read by the Reporter.)

“Mr. Hartnett: We object to it. It has nothing to do with the Plaintiff’s law suit, what she has related before.

“The Court: Sustain the objection.

“Mr. McKool: What was the Court’s ruling ?

“The Court: Objection sustained.

“Mr. Crozier: It is irrelevant, I guess.

“Mr.

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257 S.W.2d 476, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-transp-co-of-dallas-v-davis-texapp-1953.