Conino ex rel. Conino v. Landry

222 So. 2d 525, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5134
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 1969
DocketNos. 3439, 3440
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 222 So. 2d 525 (Conino ex rel. Conino v. Landry) 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
Conino ex rel. Conino v. Landry, 222 So. 2d 525, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5134 (La. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

LeSUEUR, Judge.

Defendants appeal from judgments in these consolidated cases in favor of a motor bike operator and his passenger (both minors) and their parents suing in their behalf and individually for personal injuries and expenses arising out of an accident with an automobile operated by Landry which occurred at about 10 a. m. on May 26, 1965. Landry appeals from the judgment in favor of the passenger on the basis that he was never served with process and was not a party to the action. Southeastern Fire Insurance Company (“Southeastern”) appeals from that judgment on its merits. Both defendants appeal from the judgment in favor of the motor bike operator. The passenger’s action against the motor bike operator and his insurer was dismissed by the trial court and that suit has not been appealed. The actior* of Southeastern as third-party plaintiff against the motor bike operator’s insurer was dismissed. Also dismissed was the reconventional demand of Southeastern against the parents of the passenger. The trial judge apparently overlooked the re-conventional demand against the parents of the motor bike operator, but this action must necessarily be dismissed in view of the judgment rendered in favor of the minor and his tutrix on the main demand and this court will consider that demand dismissed also.

Plaintiffs were injured as a result of an accident between a motor bike operated by McNutt, with Conino as a passenger, and an automobile owned and operated by Landry at a “T” intersection formed by Frisco Street intersecting Metairie Road, the favored roadway. Metairie Road runs in a generally east-west direction and McNutt was traveling in a westerly direction. Frisco Street intersects from the north, or from the plaintiffs’ right as they were traveling, approximately 40 feet to 50 feet west of an elevated railroad track that runs parallel to Frisco Street.

Plaintiffs testified that they crossed the railroad track in their proper lane and within the legal speed limit, noticed Landry stopped at the stop sign at Frisco Street and continued on because they had the right-of-way on a favored roadway. They claim that when they were approximately 10 feet to 15 feet from the intersection Landry started “edging out” into Metairie Road and when it became apparent that a collision was imminent, McNutt cut his wheel to the left and applied his brakes but they were struck on the right side by defendant’s left front bumper. They claim that the weather was clear and dry and that the traffic was not congested or stopped at Frisco Street.

[527]*527Defendant, and an eye witness testifying on his behalf, stated that traffic in both lanes of Metairie Road had stopped and that defendant was in the process of making a left turn onto Metairie Road toward New Orleans. Plaintiffs came over the railroad tracks in excess of the speed limit, passed the cars stopped on Metairie Road by proceeding down the center of the road and ran into defendant’s vehicle.

McNutt was knocked off of the motor hike against the curb of the east hound lane. Conino went across defendant’s hood and landed in the west bound lane of Me-tairie Road. The motor bike came to rest near the center of the intersection. The officers investigating the accident testified that they found debris attributable to the accident in the west bound lane a short distance from the approximate median line separating the lanes, no center line being marked.

The trial judge found the testimony of plaintiffs in direct conflict with that of the defendant and his witness, and was influenced by the physical evidence of the debris in the plaintiffs’ lane of traffic as reported by the investigating officers. He then concluded that the plaintiffs must be believed and that the accident occurred due to the negligence of defendant Landry in entering the favored street without making certain that the way was clear.

Defendants appeal the judgments of the lower court and assert error in its holding Landry’s negligence as the sole cause of the accident, McNutt free of negligence, not giving the testimony of defendant’s witness greater weight, and holding the point of impact to be in the middle of the west bound traffic lane.

Both plaintiffs urge the adoption of the trial court’s judgment placing the full liability for the accident on Landry. Conino is also satisfied with the quantum of his judgment but McNutt has answered the appeal seeking an increase in quantum.

This court does not find sufficient error in the judgment of the trial court to warrant any change in the determination of liability. While it is true that there were differences in the testimony of Conino and McNutt regarding the existence and location of accident debris and the amount of traffic on Metairie Road, they did not contradict each other on the important points of their testimony. Both boys agreed that they had crossed the railroad track within the legal speed limit, had proceeded in their proper lane within the legal speed limit, had noticed Landry stopped for the stop sign on Frisco Street at its interse'ction with Me-tairie Road and assumed that they could proceed safely, proceeded forward and subsequently became aware that Landry was “edging out” into the traffic lane and impact was certain. McNutt testified that he then applied his brakes and cut his wheel to the left but to no avail. Both boys testified that they were in their proper lane at all times and were struck within that lane.

Landry and his witness, who was stopped behind Landry on Frisco Street, both testified that vehicular traffic in both lanes of Metairie Road had stopped to allow Landry opportunity to turn onto Me-tairie Road toward New Orleans. As Landry was slowing moving forward and was on approximately a 45 degree angle, the motor bike crossed the railroad tracks at a speed in excess of 30 m. p. h., passed the cars stopped on Metairie Road, and ran into his automobile without any effort to avoid the collision. Landry claimed that his vehicle had crossed into the east bound lane by the time of impact and that that lane was the area of impact.

After reading the record and the trial judge’s reasons for judgment, this court concludes as stated before, that the facts and liability were properly determined by the trial judge. This court finds the testimony of plaintiffs generally more logical as evidencing the events of the accident. The testimony of defendant and his witness as to the speed of the motor bike being in excess of 30 m. p. h., even while crossing the elevated railroad tracks, [528]*528is questionable. Also defendant claims that 4 or 5 cars stopped in each direction on Metairie Road to allow him to enter, yet the distance between Frisco Street and the elevated railroad tracks that obscured his vision was 30 feet to 40 feet by his estimate and not more than 2 or 3 normal sized automobiles could stop within that distance. Defendant also claims that these cars were stopped at the time of the accident and must have seen the accident but he did not speak to any of these drivers or attempt to obtain them as witnesses.

Much mention is made in the record and on appeal as to the location and/or existence of any accident debris. The officers investigating the accident found this debris located completely within the west bound lane, although they estimated that it was only a few inches over the approximate center line. The trial judge held that this debris was in the center of the west bound lane; this finding was erroneous based on the facts but was not sufficiently erroneous in this court’s opinion to change the conclusion reached on liability.

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Bluebook (online)
222 So. 2d 525, 1969 La. App. LEXIS 5134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conino-ex-rel-conino-v-landry-lactapp-1969.