Feher v. Motor Express, Inc.

45 Ohio Law. Abs. 513
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 1, 1945
DocketNo. 3050
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 45 Ohio Law. Abs. 513 (Feher v. Motor Express, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Feher v. Motor Express, Inc., 45 Ohio Law. Abs. 513 (Ohio Ct. App. 1945).

Opinion

OPINION

By PHILLIPS, J.

Plaintiff appeals on questions of law from a judgment of the court of common pleas entered upon a jury verdict for defendant, an Ohio trucking corporation, in plaintiff’s action to recover damages against defendant for personal injuries allegedly sustained as the result of its negligence.

Plaintiff charged defendant with negligence in the first [514]*514cause of action of her petition. In her second cause of action she incorporated the allegations of her first cause of action, and alleged that the acts of negligence charged in the first cause of action “were done wantonly in that the same were done in a manner and at a time and place and under circumstances that the said conduct of the defendant would in all probability cause injury to plaintiff and in disregard of the safety of others and the use of said highway and did so injure this plaintiff.”

Defendant’s motion to strike plaintiff’s second cause of action from her petition was overruled on the ground “that the defendant’s remedy is motion to make definite and certain.”

Subsequently defendant filed such a motion and thereafter the trial judge sustained defendant’s motion to strike plaintiff’s second cause of action from her petition on the grounds that the facts constituting wanton misconduct must be pleaded specifically. Thereupon plaintiff filed her first amended petition in accordance with the ruling of the trial judge.

Plaintiff contends that the trial judge erred prejudicially to her in ordering the second cause of action in her petition stricken therefrom “and in not permitting the issue of wanton misconduct of the defendant-appellee submitted to the jury.”

It is believed that the trial judge did not err prejudicially to plaintiff in sustaining defendant’s motion to strike plaintiff’s second cause of action from her petition or in not submitting the issue of defendant’s wanton misconduct to the jury for the reasons stated hereinafter and others.

Under the circumstances of this case the motion can be treated as a demurrer. The amended petition supersedes the original petition. See Bingham v The Nypano Railroad Company, 112 Oh St, 115. In that case Marshall, Chief Justice, said:—

“The first claim of error is that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer to the original petition. This proposition can be easily disposed of. When that demurrer was sustained the plaintiff did not elect not to further plead and did not permit final judgment to be entered on that demurrer and prosecute error therefrom, but on the other hand elected to file an amended petition. Whether or not the original petition was obnoxious to a demurrer is not open to inquiry at this time. The amended petition susperseded the original petition and all further pleadings and proceedings in the case were addressed to the amended petition.”

[515]*515We believe this ease can be distinguished from the case of Cassidy, Appellant, v The Ohio Public Service Co., Appellee 74 Oh Ap, 355, 29 00, 511.

For the reasons stated hereinafter and at the risk of lengthening this opinion unreasonably the facts stated by counsel for the plaintiff in their brief with reference to the manner in which plaintiff was injured are lifted in their entirety from the brief of counsel for plaintiff submitted to this court. Those facts are as follows:

“Annette Feher (Harrison) is the plaintiff-appellant and at the time of the collision was unmarried. The accident happened on January 31, 1943, at about 5:00 A. M., on Ohio Route 18 at the entrance to the Isaly Dairy Farm, Mahoning County, Ohio.

“On Saturday, January 30,' 1943, the plaintiff, due to the fact that the offices of her employer were being moved and that she wanted to report the day’s happenings to the manager, she and the manager stayed at the office where she worked until around 12:00 midnight'when the manager (Arsel G. Harrison) came in from out on business (R-10, 11, 12). The plaintiff was friendly with the manager and later married him but since the accident has instituted action for divorce. The manager and the plaintiff later came downtown and had a lunch at Clar-k’s Restaurant (R-12) and the plaintiff was driven home by the manager at about 2:00 A. M., on Sunday, January 31, 1943 (R-13). The plaintiff found that her mother was getting worse and was sick of pneumonia and after some discussion she decided to go to Columbus, Ohio, and get a sister. The plaintiff called the manager (Harrison) up and got permission to use his 1942 Dodge Sedan which was parked in the Youngstown Garage near the Ohio Hotel at which hotel he was staying (R-13, 14, 15). The plaintiff intended to drive to Columbus, Ohio and bring her sister back to Youngstown, Ohio.

“The plaintiff then called a taxicab (R-15) and went to the garage, and after getting the auto, drove west on Mahoning Avenue where she stopped at a garage and got some gasoline (R-16) and then started out Ohio Route 18 for Columbus, Ohio.

“The weather was cold and clear and visibility good and the plaintiff was alone in the auto (R-16-17). The p1a.int.iff was familiar with the route to Columbus, Ohio, and had operated the same auto many times before. The lights were lit and would show the roadway up 300 feet ahead (R-17, 37, [516]*51639). Traffic was not heavy at the time and there was an occasional spot in the road that was slippery and some snow was along the side of the road (R-18). The roadway was clear and dry (R-19).

“When the plaintiff left North Jackson she noticed the lights on the defendant’s equipment about 350 feet ahead, and from the lights showing she knew it was a truck (R-19). This trucking equipment, consisting of a White Tractor and Mobile trailer (R-177), had a miscellaneous load of 18,000 pounds (R-201). The plaintiff thought defendant’s equipment was moving forward on the roadway and going west the same direction that she w,as traveling.

“The plaintiff was going about 25 to 30 miles per hour and blew her horn (R-20). When she was about 80 feet behind the truck she started edging over to the left side of the road (R-19) and had increased her speed to 30 or 35 miles per hour (R-43), and when she was about 30 feet behind the defendant, said truck and trailer was still completely on the right side of the road (R-45). Also when the plaintiff was about 35 or 40 feet behind said truck and trailer she was then completely over on her left side of road getting ready to pass (R-45) when the trailer part of defendant’s equipment suddenly was swung around to the left side of roadway (R-45) and completely blocked the whole roadway (R-46). The plaintiff in this emergency tried to drive her car to the right and was unable to stop in time or to avoid colliding with the rear right part of the trailer. The plaintiff says she skidded three or four feet trying to stop suddenly (R-51). The tractor was still on the right side of the roadway (R-46) and the'trailer was the only part of defendant’s equipment which suddenly swung across the roadway and headed toward the Isaly Dairy Farm lane extending from the left side of Ohio Route 18.

“THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WARNING OR SIGNALS (R-22) COMING FROM THE DEFENDANT’S OPERATOR OR THE EQUIPMENT INDICATING ANY INTENTION -TO BACK UP AND SWING THIS LARGE EQUIPMENT SUDDENLY ACROSS A PUBLIC HIGHWAY IN THE NIGHT SEASON AND ON A ROADWAY THAT IS IN MUCH USE AND TRAFFIC CAN BE EXPECTED TO BE PASSING AT ANY MINUTE. THE TRACTOR AND TRAILER WAS ABOUT 34 FEET LONG AND THE TRAILER PART ABOUT 28 FEET LONG (R-213).

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45 Ohio Law. Abs. 513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/feher-v-motor-express-inc-ohioctapp-1945.