Kaufmann ex rel. Kaufmann v. Nagle

807 S.W.2d 91, 1991 Mo. LEXIS 47, 1991 WL 51120
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 9, 1991
DocketNo. 72946
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 807 S.W.2d 91 (Kaufmann ex rel. Kaufmann v. Nagle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaufmann ex rel. Kaufmann v. Nagle, 807 S.W.2d 91, 1991 Mo. LEXIS 47, 1991 WL 51120 (Mo. 1991).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

The claim of plaintiff Cynthia Kaufmann for personal injury and the parental claim of her mother, plaintiff Henrietta Kauf-mann, were submitted to the jury under instructions patterned upon MAI 3d 17.16 —Rear End Collision. Upon jury verdicts, judgments were entered in their favor. Upon the appeal of defendant Kimberly Nagle, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, held the evidence did not support the submission of those claims under the rear-end collision doctrine. It reversed those judgments. The case was transferred for consideration by this Court as though on original appeal, Mo. Const., art. V, § 10; Rule 83.09. This Court reverses those judgments and remands the case to the trial court.

In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to support the submission, this Court reviews the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, giving them the benefit of all reasonable inferences. Black v. Kansas City Southern Railway Co., 436 S.W.2d 19, 23 (Mo.banc 1968). That standard of review is of limited significance in that there is no conflict in the evidence concerning the basic facts of the collisions involved. Those basic facts are summarized as follows.

The scene of the automobile collisions involved is the vicinity of the Notre Dame High School in south St. Louis County. The high school is located on the east side of Perrin Street, a north-south street, one-way north. Ripa Street, a one-way east street, forms a “T” intersection with Perrin Street, inferably in front of the high school. Approaching the high school, Ripa Street is substantially level. In front of the high school, Perrin Street is substantially level for a distance of approximately 150 feet north of Ripa Street. At that point, Perrin Street goes sharply downhill north, a distance of approximately 150 feet, where it intersects with Arlee Street, an east-west street. Perrin Street is a blacktop street approximately 20 feet in width, with ditches on either side.

The collisions occurred on the morning of December 13, 1985. During the night, the streets had become covered with ice and snow. However, the three drivers involved had driven from their homes to the high school without incident. Plaintiff Cynthia Kaufmann, driving a Plymouth automobile, with a passenger, Janet Hoover, was the first to arrive. She parked on the east side [93]*93of Perrin Street in front of the high school. Upon entering the building, she was told she would have to move the Plymouth because they were going to snowplow the street. She and Janet returned to the Plymouth. Cynthia intended to drive to a parking lot adjacent to the high school by going north on Perrin Street and turning east on Arlee Street. After moving slowly forward, Cynthia stopped and picked up two other students, Amy Monroe and Lisa Werkmeister.

In the meantime, David Zoeller, driving a Buick station wagon, approached on Ripa Street.1 He turned left on Perrin Street and discharged his daughter in front of the high school. He then moved north, but stopped when he saw Cynthia was picking up the two students. He stopped approximately 60-70 feet behind Cynthia. Cynthia started slowly forward. When the Plymouth went over the crest of the hill, it passed from Zoeller’s view. At this point, the Plymouth began to skid down Perrin Street. Cynthia’s efforts to brake and steer were futile. The Plymouth spun 90 degrees and came to rest in the ditch on the east side of Perrin Street, headed toward the high school. A portion of the left rear of the Plymouth was on the blacktop.

After Cynthia pulled forward, Zoeller also started cautiously forward. When he reached the crest of the hill, he saw the Plymouth in the ditch. His efforts to brake or steer were also futile. The Buick station wagon skidded down the hill. The right front of the station wagon collided with the right side of the Plymouth. The impact caused the Plymouth to slide further down the hill on Perrin Street. The Plymouth stopped in the east ditch approximately 25 feet south of Arlee Street.

Before this first collision, Janet Hoover had gotten out of the Plymouth and was standing beside it. She was carried by the front of the Buick to where the Buick stopped at the intersection of Arlee Street. Cynthia, who had also gotten out of the Plymouth, hurried to the bottom of the hill to help Janet. Apparently Cynthia had gotten in front of the Buick before it had fully stopped. It moved forward slightly and knocked Cynthia down. She had gotten up and was again attempting to help Janet when the front of a Thunderbird, driven by defendant Nagle, collided with the rear of the Buick station wagon. As a result of the second collision, the Buick knocked Cynthia several feet into the intersection.

Defendant Kimberly Nagle had approached the high school on Ripa Street. She intended to park in the school parking lot. She turned left on Perrin Street and drove slowly north. When she reached the crest of the hill, she saw the Plymouth in the east ditch and the station wagon at the bottom of the hill. Kimberly’s efforts to brake or steer were also unavailing. As a result, the Thunderbird slid down the hill into the rear of the Buick station wagon.

The testimony of the witnesses concerning the actions of the drivers and their ability to control their automobiles after starting down the hill on Perrin Street is remarkably consistent. The following are examples of that testimony.

Passenger Lisa Werkmeister testified that Cindy approached the crest of the hill slowly and as she started down the hill, “[t]he car had slipped, skidded on ice and turned around which made it face toward the school and we were in the ditch.” She later added that “Cindy lost control of the steering, she hit a patch of ice and the car turned around and slid into the bank.” Cindy testified she approached the crest of the hill at 5-8 miles per hour and when she headed down the hill, she lost control of the car.

Zoeller testified that when he first saw the Plymouth in the ditch, “I had my brakes applied as it hit the crest. I knew after driving it there was an incline, I had my foot on the brake as I approached the crest of the hill. When I went oyer the crest of the hill I could see that the car was out of control. I, a hundred percent applied my brakes at that time I could realize then it was nothing but a sheet of ice, I had no control over the car.”

[94]*94Kimberly testified that she approached the crest of the hill very slowly and when she saw the Plymouth and the station wagon she tried to drive around the station wagon. Her car skidded on the ice. “I tried everything. I couldn’t move my car.” As stated, the plaintiffs recovered their judgments upon the basis of the rear-end doctrine.

The fountainhead of the ‘rear-end collision doctrine’ in Missouri [footnote omitted] has been said to be Jones v. Central States Oil Co., 350 Mo. 91, 164 S.W.2d 914 (1942). See Doggendorf v. St. Louis Pub. Serv. Co., 333 S.W.2d 302, 305 (Mo.App.1960). Central States did not announce its holding as new ‘doctrine,’ nor was it the first case in which the rear-end theory was discussed. See Hollensbe v. Pevely Dairy Co., 38 S.W.2d 273, 276 (Mo.App.1931); Jones v. Austin,

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Bluebook (online)
807 S.W.2d 91, 1991 Mo. LEXIS 47, 1991 WL 51120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaufmann-ex-rel-kaufmann-v-nagle-mo-1991.