Green v. American Home Assurance Company

169 So. 2d 213
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 30, 1964
Docket10225
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 169 So. 2d 213 (Green v. American Home Assurance Company) 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
Green v. American Home Assurance Company, 169 So. 2d 213 (La. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

169 So.2d 213 (1964)

Mrs. Dessie D. GREEN, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 10225.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 10, 1964.
On Rehearing October 30, 1964.
Application for Rehearing Denied December 1, 1964.

*214 Booth, Lockard, Jack, Pleasant & LcSage, Shreveport, for plaintiff-appellant.

Bethard & Taylor, Shreveport, for American Home Assurance Co., defendant-appellee.

Hendrick & Fant, Shreveport, for James L. Arnston, defendant-appellee.

Wilkinson, Lewis, Woods & Carmody, Shreveport, for Marquette Cas. Co., defendant-appellee.

Before HARDY, AYRES and BOLIN, JJ.

AYRES, Judge.

By this action plaintiff seeks to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in an automobile collision of November 13, 1962, at the intersection of Hearne Avenue and Corbett Street in the City of Shreveport. Involved were a Ford, the family car of plaintiff and her husband, Samuel H. Green, driven by him, and a Chevrolet automobile driven by James L. Arnston. Made defendants in addition to Arnston are Marquette Casualty Company, Arnston's automobile insurer, and the American Home Assurance Company, insurer of the Green automobile.

Negligence charged to Green, plaintiff's husband and host, consists of a failure to maintain a proper lookout and of making a left turn when such movement could not be made in safety. Charges of negligence directed to Arnston consisted, in addition to his failure to keep a proper lookout, of driving at a reckless rate of speed, in excess of 60 m. p. h., in a 35-m. p. h. speed zone, and in disregard of the rights of others. The American Home Assurance Company denied any negligence on the part of its assured and asserted that the negligence of Arnston was the sole cause of the collision. Marquette Casualty Company likewise denied any negligence on the part of Arnston and asserted that the negligence of Green, in the aforesaid particulars and in failing to keep his automobile under control, was the sole cause of the accident. This defendant also denied that its policy afforded coverage to the Chevrolet operated by Arnston.

The trial court absolved Green of negligence and upheld the defense of lack of insurance coverage of Arnston's automobile urged by defendant Marquette Casualty Company. Negligence of Arnston, however, was held to be the sole, proximate cause of the accident. In accordance with these conclusions, there was judgment for $7,500 in favor of plaintiff against Arnston. From that portion of the judgment rejecting her demands against the defendants, American Home Assurance Company and Marquette Casualty Company, plaintiff prosecutes this devolutive appeal.

The question of fault in the occurrence of the accident presents only a factual issue. The facts established in the record support the conclusions reached by the trial court. These facts, so far as material, may be briefly reviewed.

Hearne Avenue, a main 4-lane north and south thoroughfare of the City of Shreveport, is intersected and crossed at right angles by Corbett, a 2-way street. Hearne Avenue, has a width from curb to curb of 66 ft. 2½ in.; Corbett Street, 30 ft. 9 in.

*215 There are, at the intersections on Hearne Avenue, insets into the neutral ground serving as left-turn lanes. Green, accompanied by his wife, was proceeding northward on Hearne Avenue. As he approached the intersection at Corbett Street, he entered the left-turn lane. Although the traffic signal light was favorable for traffic on Hearne Avenue to proceed through the intersection, Green stopped and awaited the clearing of the intersection of southbound traffic. Thereafter, with Arnston's car a block or more away on Hearne Avenue, proceeding south, Green undertook to negotiate the intersection. As the front of his car entered Corbett Street, the rear end extending only 12 feet into the intersection, the Green car was struck on its rear right-hand side by the Arnston vehicle. The Green Ford came to rest in Corbett Street near the southwest corner of the intersection, headed eastward. The Arnston Chevrolet, headed northwesterly, rested in the southwest corner of the intersection.

No necessity exists for reviewing the testimony of the several witnesses in detail. It suffices to state that, from the record, it conclusively appears that Arnston passed a vehicle to his right one-half block away from the intersection at a fast and reckless rate of speed and immediately turned into the right southbound traffic lane and struck the Green car as it was leaving the intersection and entering Corbett Street. The Green vehicle had, at the time, cleared Arnston's lane, the inner southbound traffic lane. Arnston skidded all four wheels of his vehicle, in a straight line, a distance of 120 ft. 2 in. to the point of the impact of the collision.

From these facts, the conclusion is inescapable that Green, in his attempt to negotiate the intersection, had a reasonable opportunity to complete the maneuver without obstructing the normal movement of traffic, and that the accident would not have occurred except for Arnston's excessive and unlawful speed of approximately 60 m. p. h.

We not only fail to find manifest error in the conclusions reached by the trial court on the question of fault but, from our own review of the record, we conclude that its findings were abundantly supported by the record.

As to the insurance coverage on the Chevrolet automobile by Marquette's policy, plaintiff, as well as the trial court, considered the car as recently acquired by Arnston. This fact was questioned by defendant insurer. The only testimony as to the transfer of ownership of the car from Jerry Horne was that of Arnston himself. This testimony, however, would establish that the sale was made during the latter part of October, 1962, when Horne told Arnston he might take the car for the payments. Thus, Arnston acquired the car within 30 days prior to the occurrence of the accident. Nevertheless, title to the car remained in Jerry Horne until the summer of 1963.

At the time of the accident there was in force Marquette's policy designating "Jerry Arntson" as the insured and covering a 1962 Ford Galaxie. The insured, under the terms of the policy, in addition to the person designated therein as such, included, as to an owned automobile, the insured's spouse. By amendment attached to the policy, it was agreed that an

"`Owned Automobile' means

"(a) a private passenger, farm or utility automobile described in the policy,
"(b) * * *
"(c) a private passenger, farm or utility automobile ownership of any of which is acquired by the named insured during the policy period, provided
"(1) it replaces a described automobile, or
"(2) the company insures all private passenger automobiles, farm automobiles *216 and utility automobiles owned by the named insured on the date of such acquisition and the named insured notifies the company within 30 days following such date, * * *."

Adjustment of the premium on the insured's acquiring additional vehicles was authorized.

This court, in interpreting identical language of a policy endorsement, made an appropriate observation found in Mathews et al. v. Marquette Casualty Company et al., La.App.2d Cir., 1963, 152 So.2d 577, 581 (writs denied):

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Bluebook (online)
169 So. 2d 213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-american-home-assurance-company-lactapp-1964.