Jasper v. Garcia

280 So. 2d 389, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 5824
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 1, 1973
DocketNo. 5383
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 280 So. 2d 389 (Jasper v. Garcia) 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
Jasper v. Garcia, 280 So. 2d 389, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 5824 (La. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinions

GULOTTA, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing plaintiff Sara Jasper’s suit for property damage deductible, damages and injuries, and from a judgment dismissing plaintiff Insured Lloyd’s suit in subrogation against defendant, Marie Garcia, and her insurer.

The facts are that on October 30, 1968 at approximately 4:45 p.m., a truck and trailer owned by O.K. Storage and Transfer Company was traveling inbound, or in the direction of the Mississippi River, in the right lane of the three-lane I — 10 Expressway. Defendant Garcia was driving her automobile also in the right lane following the truck. Plaintiff was traveling in the center lane and to the left of the truck and the Garcia automobile. At approximately 60 feet on the lake side of the South Broad overpass, a box, 5i/2 x 6 x 7, weighing approximately 280 pounds fell from the O.K. Trailer into the path of the Garcia automobile, coming to rest against a light standard on the righthand shoulder of the road. Miss Garcia swerved to the left (from the right lane to the center lane) to avoid striking the box, bringing her automobile directly behind and in the same traffic lane as the Jasper vehicle. Having observed the falling box and thinking that the truck driver was unaware of the occurrence, plaintiff Jasper came alongside the truck and signaled the driver by pointing in the direction of the box. Shortly thereafter, the Garcia vehicle struck the rear of plaintiff’s vehicle. As a result, plaintiff was injured.

Other suits grew out of this accident. However, in the instant matter, plaintiffs brought suit only against Garcia and her insurer. O.K. was brought into this matter by Garcia’s third-party petition. The trial judge dismissed both the main demand and the third-party petition. Only plaintiff appealed. While the third-party demand against O.K. was dismissed, no appeal has been taken by Garcia from that dismissal, nor has any answer to plaintiff’s appeal been filed by her. Therefore, only plaintiff’s appeal of the dismissal against defendant Garcia is before us.

In seeking reversal, Jasper argues that the trial court erred in finding her negligent by not affording her the protective umbrella of the “good Samaritan” rule. Among other cases cited by her, she relies on the rule as postulated in the case of Callais v. Furniture Showrooms, Inc., 213 So.2d 537 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1968), at page 540, which is that one in the position of a “good Samaritan”

“ * * * is not guilty of contributory negligence in exposing himself to a known or obvious danger, if under similar circumstances an ordinarily prudent person might have done likewise, or if the attempted rescue was not such as to make the effort rash and reckless in the judgment of an ordinarily prudent person.”

Jasper argues her action# in this instance were not reckless or rash, and under the circumstances, she acted as a prudent person.

Garcia, on the other hand, insists she reacted reasonably to the sudden emergency caused by the falling box into her path. She further argues plaintiff was negligent in blocking the only avenue available by which she could extricate herself from the emergency.

We do not agree. The sequence of events, in our opinion, does not support Garcia’s contention. While defendant Garcia was placed in a position of sudden emergency, her failure to exercise proper control over her automobile after having [391]*391changed lanes constituted negligence on her part which was a proximate "cause of the accident. Miss Garcia testified she was following the truck at a distance of one or one and a half automobile lengths at a speed between 30 and 40 mph.1 She stated after the box fell she looked into the rearview mirror to see that the back wheels of her vehicle had cleared the box. She further stated she again looked in the rearview mirror and could see the box rolling toward the shoulder of the road. She observed this after she had decided to go into the middle lane.

Officer Gerald O’Neil, who investigated the accident, measured the point of impact at 876 feet (almost three city blocks) from the point at which the box came to rest. Dr. Frank E. Durham, an expert in physics, testified after the box left the truck, it traveled in the same direction for a short time before coming to a stop against the light standard. He added if an automobile were traveling at a speed of 40 mph or 59 feet per second, 14.8 seconds would be required to traverse the 876 feet. If speed is reduced to 35 mph, 17 seconds is required. Clearly, defendant Garcia had sufficient time and ample opportunity to avoid the moving Jasper vehicle were she exercising a proper lookout for traffic traveling in front of her.

The evidence convinces us that undue attention to the rolling box prevented adequate observation of traffic in front of this defendant. We conclude, as did the trial judge, Garcia’s action constituted negligence which was a proximate cause of the accident. However, the trial judge concluded Miss Jasper’s negligence barred her recovery. In this respect, the trial judge erred. Jasper testified, upon observing the falling box, she came alongside the truck and signaled the impending danger to the driver. She stated she was traveling at a speed of 35 mph to the left and to the rear of the truck. She accelerated to warn the driver as the truck was reducing its speed. After notifying the driver, she was again accelerating when the impact occurred. John Lyons, an O.K. Storage employee riding on the far right side of the truck, stated Miss Jasper stopped to signal the truck driver. However, Horace Jones, driver of the truck, stated the Jasper vehicle slowed to approximately 20 mph. Herbert Davis, the other occupant of the truck, supported the testimony of Jones to the effect the Jasper vehicle had slowed but did not stop. However, he was unable to testify as to the speed of the Jasper vehicle. Our consideration of the entire record convinces us Jasper did not stop her vehicle when she signaled the truck. In slowing her vehicle in the center lane of the expressway, under the circumstances, Jasper did not create a hazard for attentive drivers following on the expressway. The slowing of the Jasper vehicle was not the proximate cause of the accident. Accordingly, we fail to find negligence on her part barring her recovery. Were we convinced from the evidence that had Jasper stopped or brought her automobile to an almost stop on the highway, a different result would follow. See Nomey v. Great American Indemnity Company, 121 So.2d 763 (La.App.2nd Cir. 1960).

We now turn to the question of quantum. Plaintiff complained of pain in the right shoulder, neck and lower part of the back. She was taken to Touro Infirmary immediately after the accident where x-rays were taken of the pelvis, the femur and the spine. Medication for pain and muscle relaxants were prescribed. On November 1, 1968, plaintiff was seen by Dr. Alvin Cotlar, a general surgeon. His diagnosis was a cervical spine sprain and acute lumbar sacral sprain. Dr. Cotlar also found multi-body contusions and abrasions involving the shoulder and interior chest. Possible muscle spasm was found, and a narrowing of the vertebral space at the [392]*392L5-S1 level was discerned. Diathermy and massage treatment was administered, and pain relievers, muscle relaxants and exercise was prescribed. X-rays were taken by Dr. Philip Mayers at Dr. Cotlar’s suggestion; however, the record is silent as to the result. On November 8, 1968, because of increased pain, a cervical collar was prescribed. A back support was also prescribed. Plaintiff was seen almost daily by Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
280 So. 2d 389, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 5824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jasper-v-garcia-lactapp-1973.