Grouchy v. Globe Furniture Co.

134 So. 347, 16 La. App. 311, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 536
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 1931
DocketNo. 778
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 134 So. 347 (Grouchy v. Globe Furniture Co.) 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
Grouchy v. Globe Furniture Co., 134 So. 347, 16 La. App. 311, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 536 (La. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

MOUTON, J.

Judgment was rendered in this case in favor of plaintiff against defendant company for damage suffered by her in a collision between a truck and an automobile which occurred at the intersection of St. Hypolite and North streets in the city of Baton Rouge.

North street runs east and west and St. Hypolite street north and south, thus crossing each other at right angles. At the time of the accident, the auto was running east to west and the truck northward.

Mr. Frank Grouchy, husband of plaintiff, was driving the auto; his wife sitting next to him on the front seat.

The truck was being driven by Clarence Creer, an employee of defendant company. The accident happened during the daytime.

Grouchy says that, when he entered the intersection and immediately before,- he was going at a speed not exceeding twelve miles an hour. His testimony is. that he entered the intersection first; that is, before the truck had reached it. At, about the time Grouchy was entering the intersection, the evidence shows that Messrs. Glack and Daigle, residents of Baton Rouge, were in a car going eastward on North street towards the intersection. It appears, and of which there is no contradiction, that as their car (Daigle was driving) reached the intersection, they slowed down and came practically to a stop to allow the Grouchy auto to negotiate the intersection, as Daigle intended to turn to his left into St. Hypolite street. These two witnesses, not related to either Mr. or Mrs. Grouchy, and in fact who were strangers to them, are certain that, when the Grouchy auto entered the intersection, the truck Creer was driving was at that time about ten feet from the south side of North street. They also estimate the speed of the Grouchy auto at about ten or twelve miles an hour when it was entering the intersection. There is no evidence to contradict the statement of Grouchy, Glack, and Daigle that the former entered the intersection first, and was then traveling at about ten or twelve miles an hour. The speed at which Grouchy was moving was certainly not excessive and showed no negligence in that respect on his part.

Grouchy was traveling on a right of way street, and, as we have before stated, entered the intersection before Creer had reached the southern limit of North street on which Grouchy was- going.

The rule of law which governs cases of this character is that, when two auto[313]*313mobiles are approaching an intersection of streets at right angle, the| one entering it first has the right of way, and the other should respect that right, and failure to do so is negligence. Middleton v. Jordan, 10 La. App. 189, 120 So. 668. Even when the other auto has the right of way, the one entering the intersection first has the right to proceed. Marshall v. Freeman, 10 La. App. 12, 120 So. 414. The same doctrine is recognized in Heath v. Baudin, 11 La. App. 40, 122 So. 726.

Here the Grouchy auto had entered first, had also the right of way, and Creer should therefore have either. stopped his truck or slowed down to allow Grouchy to proceed across St. Hypolite, the intersecting street.

According to the testimony of Glack and Daigle, Creer was then going at about twenty-five miles an hour, and, instead of relaxing his speed, seemed to have increased it, and, as it appeared fo them, was trying to pass ahead of the Grouchy car, which was struck by the truck about the center or a little over the center of St. Hypolite street.

Creer, employee of defendant company, denies the truth of the foregoing facts to which the plaintiff and the witnesses, to whom we have referred, have testified. Obviously, the court below gave credence to plaintiff and his witnesses on the issue above discussed, one of the most important in the solution of this contest, and we find nothing in the record to authorize us to question the veracity of those witnesses.

The testimony of Glack and Daigle shows that Creer instead of having his truck under control when he approached the intersection, was in reality moving at an excessive rate of speed.

Mr. Townsend, mechanic for defendant company and testifying for it, said that Creer was driving a slow-speed truck which could not pick up a speed within half a block of more than fifteen miles an hour. The purpose of that expert testimony, we presume, was offered to show that, as the truck had just passed a block southward, it could not have been traveling at twenty-five or thirty miles an hour when it reached the intersection, as was testified to by Glack and Daigle.

Creer says, he was simply creeping or rolling along in his truck when he reached the intersection. This statement of Creer is hardly believable as it is abundantly shown that by the force of the impact the truck was thrown clean across the intersection, was actually turned over, and came to a stop on.the west side of St. Hypolite street; the Grouchy auto took the opposite direction, and came to a stop at the east curbing of the same street.

Counsel for ■ defendant argues, however, that the turning over of the truck indicates that the fast driving was to be attributable to the Grouchy car, a much lighter vehicle. Daigle and Glack, and so does Grouchy, say that, when Creer realized the collision was imminent, he swerved his truck to the left to escape the impact, and that, as it was running at an excessive speed, it lost its balance, and was for that reason turned over by the contact with the lighter car.

Let us say, however, that the truck could not have picked up a faster speed than fifteen miles an hour, as would be implied from the testimony of Mr. Townsend, Creor would have still been at fault, because he should and could have stopped the truck in time to let the Grouchy car negotiate the intersection. Taking the issue presented on this question from either angle, we must hold that Creer was at fault in thus colliding with the Grouchy auto.

The next question presented by counsel [314]*314for defendant, in a very exhaustive and able-brief is that, even if Creer was at fault, Grouchy was also equally negligent; that, these two drivers being mutually at fault, plaintiff under the well-established rule governing in such contingencies cannot recover.

His contention in this respect is based on the ground that Grouchy, before entering the intersection, saw, could or should have seen the truck in time to stop his auto and avoid the collision. If the evidence justified that conclusion of fact, although Grouchy had the right of way, there would be some basis to support counsel’s contention.

The testimony of Grouchy is clearly to the effect that he did not see-the truck until after he had entered the intersection, and that of Mrs. Grouchy, who was riding at his right, is that she first saw the truck only when it was about running into the auto of which she was an occupant. The evidence of .Grouchy is that, as he came to enter the intersection, he looked south, then north, and south a second time. He did not see the truck when he. first glanced southward on St. Hypolite street, and saw it only the second - time, when he again turned his vision in that direction, but that he had then entered the intersection, tried to stop after he saw the truck, but could not before he was struck.

Grouchy testifies that there is a house on the northeast corner of St. Hypolite street where it is intersected by North street, which is at the distance of eighteen feet from the curb, as shown by actual measurement.

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Bluebook (online)
134 So. 347, 16 La. App. 311, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 536, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grouchy-v-globe-furniture-co-lactapp-1931.