Cooper v. Lane

286 So. 2d 759
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided February 1, 1974·No. 9521·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

286 So.2d 759 (1973)

Stephen L. COOPER
v.
Myrna LANE et al.

No. 9521.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 12, 1973.
Rehearing Denied December 21, 1973.
Writ Refused February 1, 1974.

Anthony J. Clesi, Jr., Baton Rouge, for appellant.

Herschel C. Adcock, Baton Rouge, for appellees.

Before LOTTINGER, BLANCHE and CRAIN, JJ.

BLANCHE, Judge.

While plaintiff, Stephen L. Cooper, was a pedestrian on the Louisiana State University campus, he attempted to cross from the south to the north side of Dalrymple Drive on a marked pedestrian crosswalk and was struck by an automobile driven by Mrs. Myrna Lane, one of the defendants. As a result of the accident, plaintiff sustained certain personal injuries. The other defendant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the liability insurer of the Lane automobile. Plaintiff, Ronald Garay, and Dr. Harold Mixon had driven to the Louisiana State University *760 campus at or about 8:00 to 8:30 A.M. on September 15, 1971, and were walking together toward their respective offices when the accident occurred. Mrs. Lane was leaving the campus by proceeding east on Dalrymple Drive, after having driven her professor husband to work at the university. At that time of the morning the traffic of both vehicles and pedestrians in and about the university was exceedingly heavy, and at the place where the accident occurred, Dalrymple Drive is a wide two-lane street. Cars are allowed to park along the road in both directions.

The trial judge found that plaintiff was not negligent, that Mrs. Lane was negligent, and rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff. We affirm.

Ronald Gene Garay worked with plaintiff in the Speech Department at the university and rode in a car pool with plaintiff that morning. Also in the car pool with them that morning was Dr. Harold Mixon. After parking the car, all three walked together toward the crosswalk which crosses Dalrymple Drive at a point between Peabody Hall, which is on the south side of Dalrymple Drive, and the Greek Theater, which is on the north side of Dalrymple Drive. Mr. Garay testified that the three of them stepped off the curb and started across the crosswalk, and he described the cars that were parked along the curb at the place of the crosswalk. The plaintiff was a step ahead of Mr. Garay and Dr. Mixon, and while Mr. Garay did not see the plaintiff being struck, he recalled the plaintiff spinning around and falling into him. He described the Lane vehicle as proceeding slowly and thought it would stop. With regard to their position in the street, Mr. Garay testified they had cleared the line of cars that was parked next to the curb when the accident occurred.

Dr. Mixon testified that he was on the left of plaintiff and Mr. Garay was on his right and that they were in the crosswalk when he first became aware that a car was approaching. However, he thought they were far enough advanced into the crosswalk that the approaching car would stop. When asked what gave him this impression, he replied that university traffic regulations stipulated that pedestrians in a crosswalk had the right of way over vehicular traffic. This was objected to by defendants as hearsay. Defendants also objected to Mr. Garay's testimony to the same effect. We believe the testimony of these witnesses concerning the right of way is relevant to show why they thought the driver of the automobile would yield to them while they were attempting to cross the street within the crosswalk. Dr. Mixon estimated that their position was somewhere between a quarter to halfway across Dalrymple when he first saw the defendant's car. He also corroborated Mr. Garay's testimony to the effect that after the impact the defendant's car proceeded a short distance, appeared to stop or slow and finally drove off. Dr. Mixon did not see the actual impact of plaintiff with the car but did see plaintiff turning or twisting as a result of the impact.

The plaintiff testified as to entering the crosswalk, stating that he looked to his left before he attempted to cross Dalrymple Drive, but saw no cars approaching. He then stated when they were a quarter to halfway across the street he was struck by an automobile.

The defendant, Mrs. Myrna Lane, testified she was proceeding on Dalrymple Drive at a very slow rate of speed, and when she rounded the curve onto Dalrymple Drive she saw some people to her right who seemed to be stopped and positioned just slightly outside the line of parked cars to her right. Being of this impression, she stated she increased her speed and slightly veered her car to the left to go around them. At that time she heard a noise but proceeded several car lengths down Dalrymple Drive before stopping. She was not sure what happened, and when she saw the people walking away, she drove off. Mrs. Lane was not aware that there was a *761 crosswalk at that point of the accident, and she did not know the purpose of the yellow markings, even though she had driven onto the campus twice a day for several months prior to the accident. Mrs. Lane further testified that she drove on to Southern University where she was employed as an Assistant Professor and there examined her car. She observed that the fender appeared to have been brushed about halfway between the front of the automobile and the door on the right side. She also noticed the antenna was broken and dangled down the side of the car. In the afternoon on that day when she picked up her husband, she related the incident to him and then called their insurance company to report what had occurred. The witness identified photographs of the car depicting the area of damage. On cross-examination Mrs. Lane testified that she saw the people referred to in her prior testimony when she was possibly two or three car lengths away and believed she could have stopped. She also stated she did not see the impact of her car with the plaintiff.

Dr. Irving Mark Lane was called as a defense witness, and his testimony corroborated that the damage to the car was as depicted in the photographs.

Mr. Roy Morgan, a claims adjuster for defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, took the photographs of the Lane vehicle two days after the accident and testified that the areas previously described as damaged were the only areas of damage to the car.

We agree with the trial judge's finding that Mrs. Lane failed to keep a proper lookout and was, therefore, negligent. Her impression that the people at the crosswalk were stopped was erroneous. By attempting to pass around to the left of them, she failed to yield the right of way to pedestrians whom she knew or should have known were in the process of attempting to cross the street.

Defendants argue that there is no evidence substantiating that Dalrymple Drive on the university campus is a public road rather than a private road, with the result that the statutory right of way accorded to pedestrians crossing a street in a designated crosswalk under LSA-R.S. 32:212 subd. A[1] of the Louisiana Highway Regulatory Act is, therefore, inapplicable. Admittedly, the evidence fails to establish whether or not Dalrymple Drive is a public, as distinguished from a private, roadway.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Cooper v. Lane, 286 So. 2d 759 (La. Ct. App. 1974).

286 So. 2d 759 (Cooper v. Lane) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Regis v. Department of Police
107 So. 3d 790 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
Davis v. Marshall
467 So. 2d 1211 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Wille v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc.
320 So. 2d 288 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1975)
Cooper v. Lane
288 So. 2d 645 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1974)