Elliott v. Swift & Co.

39 N.W.2d 617, 151 Neb. 787, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 150
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1949
DocketNo. 32638
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 39 N.W.2d 617 (Elliott v. Swift & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Elliott v. Swift & Co., 39 N.W.2d 617, 151 Neb. 787, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 150 (Neb. 1949).

Opinion

Messmore, J.

This is an action at law to recover for personal.injuries and property damage resulting from a collision between the plaintiff’s automobile traveling east and defendant’s truck traveling north at an intersection of a graveled road and a dirt road located in the southeast corner of Section .22, Divide Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Upon trial to a jury plaintiff was awarded a verdict of $1,267.35, and the jury found against the defendant on its counterclaim. Judgment was rendered on the verdict. Motion for new trial and motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict’were overruled. Defendant appeals.

For convenience the parties will be referred to as originally designated in the district court.

[789]*789The theory of the plaintiff’s case, as shown by his petition, charged defendant’s driver with negligence in that he operated the truck at a high and excessive rate of speed, failed to keep a proper lookout, failed to yield the right-of-way to plaintiff’s vehicle at the intersection after the plaintiff had entered first therein and was approximately halfway across the same, and failed to have the defendant’s truck under proper control to prevent it from running into and against the plaintiff’s automobile.

The defendant, for answer, denied generally the allegations of the plaintiff’s petition and affirmatively alleged that-the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence which proximately resulted in the damage to the plaintiff as alleged in his petition. By cross-petition the defendant charged the plaintiff'with negligence in that the plaintiff drove his automobile at a high and excessive rate of speed greater than was reasonable and prudent under the circumstances and conditions at the time, that the plaintiff failed to maintain a proper lookout, failed to yield the right-of-way at the intersection to the defendant, and failed to maintain proper control of his car to prevent the same from running into and against the defendant’s truck.

The plaintiff’s reply to the defendant’s answer and counterclaim was in effect a general denial.

The record discloses that the plaintiff was the owner of a 1941 Chevrolet coupé. On the morning of November 6, 1948, he was driving the same en route to his brother’s home. The car was in good mechanical condition. The day was clear and the highway dry. He proceeded east on a graveled highway designated as the “east-and-west” road, which is not a marked highway, at a rate of speed of from 30 to 35 miles an hour. He had driven over this road on many occasions. He was familiar with what is referred to as the “north-and-south” dirt road and with the intersection where the two roads cross. There were no stop signs at the intersection in question. In ap[790]*790proaching the intersection from the west there is a down grade about 30 feet before the intersection is reached. The highway west of this point is level for about half a mile. When he approached the intersection and was about 75 feet west of it, he looked first to the right or south, then to the left or north. He saw no vehicle approaching from the south on the north-and-south road. About 10 to 15 rods south of the intersection there was a down grade referred to as a “swale” 5 or 6 feet deep, which has a tendency to conceal a car which may be at that point, to some extent. Failing to see a vehicle approaching from the south or north, he proceeded into the intersection and looked both to the north and south and saw no vehicle approaching from the south. He slowed his speed a little. When he had proceeded halfway into the intersection with the back part of his car just over the center part of the intersection, he looked through a small window on the side of his car and at that time saw the truck ready to collide with his automobile. He did not know it was approaching until that instant. It was toward the east side of the intersection as it was approaching north.

The front part of the truck struck the plaintiff’s automobile just ahead of the back right fender. The car was in the southeast part of the intersection at the time. The sun was in the southeast and at an angle which interfered with his vision to the south to some extent. As he proceeded into the intersection he could see through the intersection to the east without difficulty, and testified' that he was in the intersection first.

The defendant’s driver testified that he was employed by the defendant and used one of its trucks, a 1946 ton- and-one-half Chevrolet truck, for the purpose of picking up produce, and was doing so on the morning the accident occurred. He had driven over the north-and-south road and was familiar with the intersection. He approached the intersection from the south at a speed of about 30 miles an hour. .When he was 150 yards south of the [791]*791intersection and south of the swale, he looked to the west and saw no car approaching the intersection from that direction. He then looked to the east, turned back, and the collision occurred. The car which came from the west was right in front of him. He was about in the center of the intersection, driving on the east side. He further testified that there was no place on the north- and-south roád where a car would be completely concealed from a car coming from the west, unless it would be as indicated previously; and that his truck measured 11 feet from the ground to the top. After striking the plaintiffs automobile which went ahead of the truck into the northeast corner of the intersection, the truck tipped over on its right side, turned around and faced south in the northeast corner of the intersection. The Chevrolet car, after the accident, was close to and east of the truck, also facing south. It did not turn over.

The accident caused the plaintiff’s head to go through the windshield, and when his car came to a halt the door was pushed out and he fell to the ground on his feet. He described various cuts on his head and face.

The plaintiff testified the damage to his car consisted of the following: The right door was caved in a foot or a foot and a half into the car; the front seat was disconnected from the frame, broken off, and pushed out through the door; the back fender on the right side was smashed in; the gears and, the transmission were damaged; the right back wheel was out of line with the right front wheel; and the windshield was broken and the glass shattered.

The damage to the truck was mostly on the front end. The frame was broken on both sides where the spring shackles fasten on,’ and the headlights were broken.

A witness who lived within 400 or 500 feet from the scene of the accident testified that he did not see the accident but heard the crash, and arrived at that point 30 minutes after the accident happened. He made some inspection of the intersection and observed tracks or skid [792]*792marks. Referring to the place in the intersection where the accident occurred, he testified it would be east of the center of the intersection and, with relation to the east- and-west line, on the south side thereof. He further testified that approaching the intersection from the west to the east at a distance of 100 feet there is a little incline and west of that incline it is practically level for half a mile. From the south approaching north to the intersection there is a little hill, and approximately 20 rods south of the intersection there is a swale which was about 6 to 10 feet lower than the road in the intersection.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 N.W.2d 617, 151 Neb. 787, 1949 Neb. LEXIS 150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/elliott-v-swift-co-neb-1949.