Cooley v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co.

862 So. 2d 248, 2003 WL 22846690
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 26, 2003
Docket37,701-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 862 So. 2d 248 (Cooley v. Trinity Universal Ins. 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
Cooley v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., 862 So. 2d 248, 2003 WL 22846690 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

862 So.2d 248 (2003)

Malcolm COOLEY and Ruth D. Cooley, Plaintiffs-Appellants
v.
TRINITY UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 37,701-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 26, 2003.

*249 Robert G. Foley, Monroe, Richard L. Fewell, Jr., West Monroe, Counsel for Appellants.

Richard D. Chappuis, Jr., Lafayette, Cyd Sheree Page, Monroe, Kristen Broussard Menard, Lafayette, Counsel for Appellee.

Before BROWN, WILLIAMS and DREW, JJ.

*250 DREW, J.

Plaintiffs, Malcolm Cooley and his wife, Ruth Cooley, appeal the judgment denying recovery against their own uninsured/under insured motorist carrier, Trinity Universal Insurance Company. The Cooleys' damages arose out of a two-car collision on Highway 80 in Ouachita Parish. Mrs. Cooley was turning left onto the highway from a parking lot north of the road so she could proceed east into West Monroe. Ann A. Halley, who was driving her Suburban west towards Calhoun, struck Mrs. Cooley's Ford Taurus as it was crossing the westbound lane. Plaintiffs contend that the collision resulted from Halley's negligence. Following a trial limited to the liability issue, the jury found in favor of defendant, Trinity, after which the trial court denied plaintiffs' subsequent Motions for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict and in the alternative, for New Trial.

On appeal, the plaintiffs assert that the jury erred in finding Halley free from fault because she had crossed the double yellow center line into the eastbound lane. Plaintiffs further assert that the jury erred in deciding that Halley had rebutted the presumption of her fault in causing the crash. For the following reasons, the judgment is affirmed.

FACTS AND TESTIMONY

Plaintiffs own and operate Cooley Printing, which sells printing, office supplies, and furniture. Mrs. Cooley calls upon customers, including Dixie Hydro-Vac, which is located on the north side of Highway 80 west of West Monroe. After concluding her business at Dixie Hydro-Vac, Cooley intended to return to West Monroe. Exiting the parking lot, Cooley had to traverse the westbound lane in order to make the left turn into the eastbound lane of Highway 80. Cooley testified:

• She looked in both directions and then pulled into the eastbound lane.

• She straightened her vehicle completely into the eastbound lane when she observed Halley's vehicle, a 1996 GMC Suburban, cross the center line.

• Halley's vehicle struck Cooley's vehicle head-on, entirely in the eastbound lane of travel.

A registered nurse who resides in Union Parish, Halley had taken her three-year-old grandson shopping. Returning the child to his home near Calhoun, Halley drove west on Highway 80. Although she was not sure of her exact speed, she testified she was not in a hurry because the child had fallen asleep in his car seat and she wanted him to sleep. Halley believed that she was driving at or below the speed limit. As she approached the Dixie Hydro-Vac parking lot, Halley observed the white Taurus pulling onto the roadway and into the westbound lane from the west side of the Dixie Hydro-Vac parking lot. Halley thought Cooley looked at her and believed that Cooley saw her and would stop. Halley veered slightly left into the eastbound lane in the hope that she could negotiate around the Cooley vehicle and avoid the collision. Halley's thought process was that if she swerved to the right toward the Dixie Hydro-Vac parking lot, her vehicle would impact the Cooley auto broadside at the driver's door.

TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES

Ouachita Sheriff's Deputy Darryl Frost testified via video tape, that:

• He was the officer who responded and investigated the accident on September 30, 1997.

• The damage to the white Taurus was located at the right front side while the damage to the Suburban was at the front end.

*251 • The vehicles were locked together at the scene—the front fender above the tire of the Taurus was attached to the front end of the Suburban—and had to be separated by the wrecker drivers.

• He was unable to speak with Halley, who, along with her grandson, had been transported by ambulance to the emergency room.

• When he spoke with Cooley, however, inside the Dixie Hydro-Vac building, she indicated to him that she did not see the Halley vehicle before she entered the eastbound lane.

• At the hospital, Halley told him that she had been westbound on U.S. 80 when Cooley pulled out into her pathway, and she veered into the eastbound lane to avoid the accident.

• He made no notation in his report with regard to the existence or location of debris from the accident. He believed, based upon the location of and damage to the vehicles, that the Cooley vehicle was headed more in a southerly direction, as if coming out of the parking lot.

The two wrecker drivers pulled the interlocked vehicles apart using the wreckers. Both of them estimated the field of debris to be 50 to 60 feet from the point of impact. They further testified that the resting place of the vehicles was farther on the shoulder of the highway than other witnesses remembered it to be. The accident occurred in September of 1997, while the trial was not held until June 2002.

Several employees of Dixie Hydro-Vac testified on behalf of the defendant. Although none saw the accident, they described the events which occurred shortly thereafter. Gay Viereck, Jo Ann Bass, and Carolyn McHenry heard the crash and went outside. All three observed that the Cooley vehicle had been impacted over the right front wheel. All three testified that they believed the automobiles were positioned in the middle of the highway, farther to the center than described by the wrecker drivers. Jo Ann Bass stated that she helped Cooley out of the passenger side of the vehicle. Carolyn McHenry confirmed that testimony, stating that she was right behind Bass and that she also assisted in extricating Cooley, although Cooley did not recall being assisted from the car. The employees stated that they mistook the air bag smoke for actual smoke and were afraid of an explosion. They further stated that they feared for their own safety because of the position of the vehicles in the middle of the highway.

EXPERT TESTIMONY

Plaintiffs' accident reconstruction expert, Andrew J. McPhate, reviewed the accident report, photographs, witness deposition testimony, and depositions of Ray Herd and Jere Johnston, defendant's experts. McPhate also viewed the accident scene, took appropriate measurements, observed traffic at the site, and listened to the testimony at trial.

• There was left-side-to-left-side contact between the vehicles. The Suburban had to be going in at a slight angle in order to get the bumper essentially behind the wheel.

• The Cooley vehicle was not "T-boned" by the Halley vehicle; i.e., the impact did not occur at a perfect 90 degree angle.

• The deployment of the driver-side air bag indicated a more frontal impact with enough rear acceleration to trigger the air bag.

• Cooley was traveling about 12 miles an hour at the time of the impact.

• Prior to the application of brakes, Halley's speed was 71 miles per hour at *252 the highest and 62 miles per hour at the lowest.[1]

• Halley had an opportunity to maneuver onto the right shoulder of the road.

On cross-examination, McPhate acknowledged that he had arrived at Halley' speed by relying on Scott Kirkland's (one of the wrecker drivers) deposition testimony that the debris field was 50 to 60 feet.[2]

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Bluebook (online)
862 So. 2d 248, 2003 WL 22846690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cooley-v-trinity-universal-ins-co-lactapp-2003.