Fruge v. STATE, DEPT. OF TRANSP. & DEVELOPMENT

536 So. 2d 745, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 2746, 1988 WL 133876
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 14, 1988
Docket87-1050
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 536 So. 2d 745 (Fruge v. STATE, DEPT. OF TRANSP. & DEVELOPMENT) 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
Fruge v. STATE, DEPT. OF TRANSP. & DEVELOPMENT, 536 So. 2d 745, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 2746, 1988 WL 133876 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

536 So.2d 745 (1988)

Joseph Lee FRUGE, et al, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
STATE of Louisiana, DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION & DEVELOPMENT, et al, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-1050.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 14, 1988.
Writ Denied February 24, 1989.

*746 Aaron Harris, Opelousas, for Fruge.

Watson, Murchison, Crews, Arthur & Corkern, William Crews, Jr., Natchitoches, for O. LaCour.

Gregory & Wright, R. Stuart Wright, Natchitoches, for N. LaCour.

Guglielmo, Lopez & Tuttle, John R. Walker, Opelousas, for defendant/appellant/appellee.

Domengeaux & Wright, Thomas R. Edwards, Opelousas, for defendant/appellee.

Before GUIDRY, FORET and KNOLL, JJ.

FORET, Judge.

This action results from a two-car collision which took place on September 25, 1983, at the Nuba intersection of La. 10 and U.S. 167. Mrs. Irma Fruge, driver of one vehicle, died as a result of the accident. This action was instituted by her husband, Joseph Lee Fruge, and her two sons, John M. Fruge and Anthony Joseph Fruge, against the State of Louisiana, through the *747 Department of Transportation & Development (DOTD); Olea D. LaCour, the driver of the other vehicle; and N.L. LaCour, a passenger in the LaCour vehicle. Also named as defendants were Commercial Union Insurance Company, the LaCours' insurer (later stipulated to be Employers Fire Insurance Company); and Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Company, Fruge's insurer.

By separate actions, both Olea and N.L. LaCour brought actions against the Department of Transportation & Development. All actions were consolidated for trial. The trial court, in three separate judgments, dismissed all claims against the State of Louisiana, through the Department of Transportation & Development, finding Mrs. Olea LaCour 75% at fault in the accident and Mrs. Fruge 25% at fault. All plaintiffs appeal.[1] Separate opinions are being rendered this date in Olea D. LaCour v. State of Louisiana, Through Dept. of Transportation & Development, 536 So.2d 754 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988) and in N.L. LaCour v. State of Louisiana, Through the Dept. of Transportation & Development 536 So.2d 755 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988).

FACTS

The trial court, in excellent reasons for judgment, set forth the factual background of this case as follows:

"These suits, which were consolidated for trial, arise from an automobile accident which occurred at the intersection of U.S. Highway 167 and LA 10, locally known as the `Nuba Intersection,' at approximately 2:14 p.m., Sunday, September 25, 1983. LA 10 and U.S. 167 and the latter's extension, also known as the I-49 By-Pass, at the time of the accident were hard-surfaced two-lane highways. A railroad crossed the by-pass about 300 feet east of the intersection. The intersection was controlled by a beacon light, flashing red for traffic traveling east and west on U.S. 167 and its extension to I-49, and amber for north-bound and south-bound traffic on LA 10.
"Immediately prior to the collision, Mrs. Odea [sic] D. LaCour was driving the family car, a 1981 Ford Fairmont, on the U.S. 167 extension from I-49 to the Nuba intersection. Failing to observe and heed certain highway signs in place for west-bound traffic, as well as the red beacon light, she proceeded to cross the intersection and collided with a 1980 Ford Bronco automobile driven by Mrs. Irma D. Fruge, traveling south on LA 10 in the northwest quadrant of the intersection.
"Mrs. Fruge died instantly as a result of the accident. Mrs. LaCour suffered a broken hip and extensive lacerations. Her husband, [sic—N.L.] M.N. LaCour, who was a passenger in the automobile, sustained a severe closed-head injury and other injuries which rendered him severely incapacitated and for which he will require twenty-four hour daily care for the remainder of his life."

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

The following were assigned as errors on appeal by the Fruges. The LaCours join in assignment of error # 1 regarding the alleged negligence of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

I.

The Trial Court committed manifest error in absolving the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development of any negligence contributing to the occurrence of the two-vehicle accident.

II.

The Trial Court committed manifest error in its apportionment of fault between the respective vehicle drivers, assessing the driver of the Fruge vehicle with twenty-five (25%) percent fault.

*748 III.

The Trial Court committed manifest error, and abused its discretion, in granting a grossly inadequate award to the surviving father and two children (one minor and one major), of the Fruge family.

LIABILITY OF DOTD

Both the Fruges and the LaCours contend that the trial court erred in absolving the DOTD of any negligence contributing to the cause of this accident.

We adopt the trial court's summary as to the allegations against DOTD as follows:

"[The Fruges] plead the negligence of the Department of Transportation and Development as follows:
`A. Failure to have an overpass at the intersection of LA 10 and U.S. 167.
B. Failure to have a signal light (red light) at the intersection of LA 10 and U.S. 167.
C. Failure to have ¼ mile caution lights near the intersection of LA 10 and U.S. 167.
D. Failure to have large stop signs at the intersection of LA 10 and U.S. 167.
E. Failure to have speed barriers or breakers on the highway near the intersection of LA 10 and U.S. 167.'
. . . .
"Answering the Fruge suit, the Department of Transportation and Development generally denied the allegations against it. As a third-party plaintiff, it sued Mr. and Mrs. LaCour and their insurer, alleging the sole negligence of Mrs. LaCour in causing the accident. It pleaded that in the event it was found guilty of any negligence regarding the accident, it was, in that case, entitled to full indemnity from the LaCours and their liability insurer, and alternatively they prayed for contribution from them as co-tort feasors in solido on a pro-rata basis.
"In their suits, Mr. and Mrs. LaCour contend that the accident and injuries were caused by the State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development, in the following non-exclusive particulars, namely,
`A. In designing a defective intersection;
B. Failure to place a traffic control signal light (red light) at an intersection where the Department of Highways had prior knowledge of heavy congestion;
C. Failing to place speed barriers or breakers on the highway near the intersection;
D. In constructing an intersection in close proximity to a railroad crossing which confused motorists entering the intersection;
E. Improperly marking the intersection where a dominant highway leads into a lesser highway at an intersection making the lesser highway have the right-of-way;
F. Failing to install sufficient warning signs, warning approaching motorists of the intersection.'

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
536 So. 2d 745, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 2746, 1988 WL 133876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fruge-v-state-dept-of-transp-development-lactapp-1988.