Hook v. St. Louis Public Service Co.

317 S.W.2d 644, 1958 Mo. App. LEXIS 480
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided November 5, 1958·No. No. 30004·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ANDERSON, Judge.

This is an action by plaintiff to recover damages for the alleged loss of his wife’s society, services and consortium claimed to have resulted from personal injuries sustained by her as the result of a collision between defendant’s bus and an automobile in which she was a passenger; to recover for medical expense incurred for the treatment of his wife’s injuries; and for the damage to his automobile. The trial below resulted in a verdict and judgment for defendant. Plaintiff has appealed.

The collision occurred on September 4, 1953, at the intersection of Horton Place and Hodiamont Avenue in the City of St. Louis. Hodiamont Avenue, at this point, runs north and south and is approximately 35 feet wide. Horton Place runs in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction and is 36 feet wide southwest of the intersection and 30 feet wide northeast thereof. The record discloses that Horton Place at its intersection with Hodiamont Avenue does not extend directly across the latter, but that the southeast curb line of Horton Place, east of Hodiamont, is approximately a prolongation of the northwest curb line west of Hodiamont. Both streets are crossed by streetcar tracks which run in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction. The west rail of these tracks as it crosses Horton Place is about 105 feet from the west curb of Hodiamont. These tracks cross Hodiamont about 200 feet south of the intersection. There were stop signs at all four corners of the intersection. The stop sign for northbound traffic on Hodia-mont was located a few feet south of the south curb line east of Hodiamont.

The collision occurred at about 5 :45 a. m. It was raining and the streets were wet. [646] Plaintiff was driving a ’46 Mercury automobile, and his wife and child accompanied him. Just prior to the collision plaintiff had turned north onto Hodiamont from Maple Avenue, a block south of the intersection in question. The headlights on plaintiff’s car were on and the windshield wipers were operating; his car was traveling 6 or 8 feet from the east curb line as he crossed the tracks south of the intersection, and continued at that distance from the curb as he proceeded toward the intersection. Plaintiff testified that when he reached a point about 75 feet south of the intersection he saw the defendant’s bus on Horton Place approaching the intersection from the west. The front end of the bus had about reached the streetcar tracks at that time. Plaintiff did not thereafter watch the movement of the bus. According to plaintiff’s testimony the headlight on the bus was not lit at the time, nor were the lights within the bus turned on. The bus was traveling about 6 to 8 miles per hour at the time. Plaintiff’s speed was from 12 to 15 miles per hour. Plaintiff did not come to a complete stop when he reached the stop sign, but had reduced the speed of his car to about 2 or 3 miles per hour when he reached a point two or three feet from the stop sign; he was three car lengths or about 45 feet from the stop sign when he began to slow down for the stop sign; he then shifted to second gear, looked to his right, and proceeded forward, accelerating the speed of his car to 6 or 8 miles per hour. Thereafter, plaintiff’s wife saw the bus and exclaimed, “Oh, my God, •there’s a bus.” At that time, according to the wife’s testimony, plaintiff’s car had passed the south curb line of Horton Place. She also testified that the speed of plaintiff’s car after it passed the stop sign was three or four miles an hour at the most. Plaintiff testified that he saw the bus when his wife warned him just an instant before the collision. The bus was then about 6 feet in front of his car, and plaintiff could not estimate the speed of the bus at that time. Immediately after seeing the bus plaintiff took his foot off the accelerator, but did not have time to apply the brake. Plaintiff’s wife testified that she saw the bus about a second before the collision, and that her attention was directed toward the bus by a light, which was to their left.

Plaintiff did not swerve either to the right or left from the time he left the stop sign until the collision occurred, and testified he did not skid. The left front of plaintiff’s car collided with the right front corner of the bus. Neither plaintiff nor his wife heard any horn sounded prior to the collision. Plaintiff did not sound the horn on his car. Plaintiff’s car was traveling’ 6 or 8 miles per hour at the time of the collision. About two seconds elapsed from the time plaintiff accelerated the speed of his car, after slowing down for the stop sign, until the collision occurred. The impact occurred 3 or 4 feet south of the center line of East Horton Place; i. e., Horton Place east of Hodiamont Avenue. After the impact plaintiff’s car traveled 3 or 4 feet and came to rest with its front end a few feet beyond the center of East Horton Place. Plaintiff stated his car was pushed slightly toward the east. Plaintiff, when asked if there was anything to block his view of the bus when it was out • in the intersection and when he was at the stop sign, replied: “No, except it was behind me.”

Plaintiff’s wife received personal injuries and his automobile was damaged. Since the extent of the wife’s injuries and the damage suffered are not issues on this appeal, it will not be necessary to review the evidence regarding same.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Hook v. St. Louis Public Service Co., 317 S.W.2d 644, 1958 Mo. App. LEXIS 480 (Mo. Ct. App. 1958).

317 S.W.2d 644 (Hook v. St. Louis Public Service Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Harrellson v. Barks
326 S.W.2d 351 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1959)