Courtright v. United States

276 F. Supp. 489, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8531
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedOctober 30, 1967
DocketCiv. A. No. 66-C-47
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 276 F. Supp. 489 (Courtright v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Courtright v. United States, 276 F. Supp. 489, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8531 (D. Colo. 1967).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ARRAJ, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Hazel E. Courtright seeks to recover damages for personal injuries and plaintiff Leslie Courtright seeks damages for loss of his wife’s society and services as a result of such injuries; the action is brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) and § 2671 et seq. Plaintiffs contend that one Alfred Pittman, while acting within the course and scope of his employment with the United States Army and the United States of America, negligently drove his vehicle into the rear of the vehicle driven by the plaintiff Hazel E. Courtright, and that as a direct and proximate result of such negligence she sustained severe bodily injuries, incurred medical expense and endured pain and suffering. The Court has previously ruled that at the time of the accident Alfred Pittman was driving his vehicle under circumstances which made the United States responsible for his acts as a service man who was then in the process of changing duty stations under official government orders. See Court-right v. Pittman, 264 F.Supp. 114 (D.Colo.1967).

Alfred Pittman was originally named as a defendant and the action against him has since been dismissed. The defendant United States of America as third-party plaintiff filed its third-party complaint against Government Employees Insurance Company as third-party defendant, claiming that at the time of the accident in question Pittman had in effect an insurance policy with the third-party defendant under the terms of which policy third-party defendant would be responsible for all damages occasioned to all persons or property as a result of the fault or negligence of Alfred Pittman while operating his vehicle. Third-party defendant contends that at the time of the accident in question there was in effect an endorsement to the policy which excluded the third-party plaintiff from coverage under the policy.

The pertinent facts surrounding the accident are as follows: On October 24, 1964 the plaintiffs were proceeding in separate vehicles from their home in Denver, Colorado, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where plaintiff Leslie Court-right had employment; he was driving a pick-up truck and Mrs. Courtright was following in a 1959 Cadillac DeVille sedan automobile. There were no other occupants in either car. On the same date Alfred Pittman, his wife and four children were traveling south on U. S. Highway 85-87 to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where his new duty station, Fort Carson, is located. Highway 85-87 between Denver and Colorado Springs is a divided highway with two driving lanes going south and two going north with a median strip in between. At a point approximately eight miles south of Castle Rock, Colorado, plaintiff Leslie Courtright drove his pick-up on to the right shoulder of the southbound lane; plaintiff Hazel Courtright promptly drove her vehicle toward her husband’s pick-up. When she was nearly off the [491]*491pavement on to the shoulder and about two or three car lengths behind the pick-up, her vehicle was struck on the right rear by the Pittman vehicle. She turned her steering wheel to the left to avoid running into her husband’s pick-up, and her vehicle then proceeded in a southeasterly direction across the two southbound lanes, the median strip and on to the right lane of the two northbound traffic lanes, where it came to a stop. While crossing the left southbound lane her ear struck the right dual wheels of a trailer attached to a tractor. The front end of the Cadillac was severely damaged and the dual wheels of the trailer were slightly damaged.

Immediately prior to the impact between the Pittman and Courtright vehicles the Pittman vehicle was a short distance behind the Courtright vehicle, traveling at a speed estimated by Pittman to be approximately thirty-five miles per hour; the physical facts appearing after the accident suggest that he likely was going at a much higher speed. The tractor and trailer were behind the Pittman vehicle in the left southbound lane. Pittman intended to pass plaintiff’s vehicle and steered his car to the left to get into the passing lane. As he was moving into the passing lane the truck, proceeding in the same direction and intending to pass Pittman’s vehicle, sounded his horn and Pittman then swung abruptly to the right and eventually into the rear end of Mrs. Court-right’s vehicle; her car was still moving at the time of impact. Pittman had not seen the truck prior to the sounding of its horn. The speed of the truck at the time it was passing the Pittman car was approximately sixty miles per hour. Pri- or to impact, Pittman’s vehicle left 183 feet of skid marks on the pavement.

It seems clear to the Court that Alfred Pittman was negligent in failing to use his rear view mirror or other means and thereby observe the truck which was rapidly approaching him on the inside lane. Also, Pittman failed to use his turn signal or to give a hand signal to indicate to the drivers of oncoming vehicles, behind his car, his intent to move to the left onto the inside lane. He was further negligent in not having his vehicle under control at the time the truck was starting to pass so as to avoid hitting other vehicles rightfully in the proper lane or on the road shoulder. We find his negligence to be a proximate cause of the resulting injuries to plaintiff Hazel Courtright.

Mrs. Courtright was able to get out of her vehicle and to walk immediately after the accident; she did not think she had been seriously injured. After the accident was investigated by the state patrolmen she proceeded with her husband in the pick-up to Canon City, Colorado, where they had planned to spend the night with her sister. After her arrival at Canon City she encountered pain, stiffness in her neck and right shoulder; she consulted the doctor there the following morning who procured X-rays which disclosed no fractures. A Morris collar was prescribed and she continued on to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband. Shortly after her arrival there she began to have pain in her lower back. She consulted a doctor who recommended physical therapy and traction, which were employed. She returned to Denver in mid-December and in January of 1965 consulted an orthopedic surgeon who has treated her from time to time since that date. Additional X-rays were taken in November 1964 and January 1965 and no fractures appeared in any of such X-rays. There were some spurs noted at the front margin of the fifth cervical vertebrae but these preceded the accident.

At the time of trial plaintiff Hazel Courtright was fifty-three years of age and had a life expectancy of approximately twenty years. She had had diabetes for approximately thirty years; as a result of her diabetes she suffered some diabetic neuritis. She also suffered from bursitis in her right shoulder. This bursitis preceded the accident. Mrs. Courtright still has some pain in her neck and also in her lower back. Some of the lower back pain is attributa[492]*492ble to diabetic neuritis. She receives some relief from physical therapy and medication. Prior to the accident she was able to do and did most of her own housework, but since the accident she has had to have help on an average of two days per month. Before the accident her main recreational activity was square dancing and since the accident she has been able to continue that activity. Mrs. Courtright has expended the sum of $1,-136.01 for medical treatment, X-rays, physical therapy and medication.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
276 F. Supp. 489, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courtright-v-united-states-cod-1967.