Kimbro v. Robertson Tank Lines, Inc.

407 S.W.2d 521, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2678
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 19, 1966
DocketNo. 11429
StatusPublished

This text of 407 S.W.2d 521 (Kimbro v. Robertson Tank Lines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kimbro v. Robertson Tank Lines, Inc., 407 S.W.2d 521, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2678 (Tex. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

ARCHER, Chief Justice.

This appeal involves determination of a venue question. Appellant herein was im-pleaded as third party defendant by appel-lees, who were sued by plaintiff below, Cecil Eugene Abernathy, not a party to this appeal. Abernathy by his original suit filed in Bell County sought to recover damages against appellees for injuries allegedly received when as a pedestrian he was struck on a public highway in Bell County by a truck owned by appellee, Robertson Transport Company, and being driven at the time by appellee, Virgil F. Baird. Appellees, by way of third party complaint, impleaded appellant Y. W. Kimbro, d/b/a Kimbro Brothers, alleging that any injuries which might have been sustained by Abernathy were proximately caused by various acts of negligence on the part of one of appellant’s employees acting within the scope of his employment while spreading lime on the premises immediately adjoining the highway where the accident occurred. To this third party complaint, appellant filed his plea of privilege to be sued in Williamson County, Texas, the county of his residence. Said plea of privilege was timely controverted by appellees, who alleged that exceptions to exclusive venue did exist under the provisions of Section 9a of Article 1995, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., as well as other sections of that Article. A venue hearing was duly held at which time the various depositions appearing as the Statement of Facts herein were introduced for consideration by the trial court. Upon consideration of them, the trial court entered an order overruling appellant’s plea of privilege and fixing venue in Bell County, Texas, where the accident made the basis of the lawsuit occurred.

The appeal is based on six points, the first four are that there was no evidence or the evidence was insufficient to prove that appellant was guilty of any negligence on the occasion, or that any such negligence was a proximate cause of the injuries sustained by the original plaintiff.

Appellees assert that appellant’s points of error are legally insufficient to present any error for consideration on appeal because such are couched in such general terms that particular grounds are not clearly identified, and cites T.R.C.P. Rules 418, 320 and 321.

Since we believe that the action of the trial court was correct and are affirming the judgment we do not see any need to consider such objection further but do observe that the rules should be complied with. Rosenfield v. Hull, Tex.Civ.App., 304 S.W.2d 571; Red Fish Boat Company v. Jarvis Press, Inc., Tex.Civ.App., 361 S.W.2d 588.

There was adduced before the Court sufficient evidence at the venue hearing to support the trial court’s implied finding in favor of appellees within the meaning of Section 9a, Art. 1995, V.A.C.S., that appellant’s [523]*523employee acting within the scope of his employment committed acts of negligence in Bell County, Texas, proximately causing injuries directly to plaintiff Abernathy which in turn gave rise to appellees’ suit herein for contribution.

Appellee Baird testified that as he approached along the road the lime dust at first did not present any problem to visibility, but that when he came abreast of appellant’s lime truck, he was suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with a large dispersal of lime from the truck which did obscure visibility, and that he took his foot off the throttle, but was afraid to apply his brakes immediately because there was a passenger car following just behind his truck.

By his deposition Baird testified on pages 55-56:

“Q In what direction did you maintain your vision?
A Straight ahead.
Q And directed where straight ahead?
A Down the road.
Q Down the road?
A Yes.
Q All right. How long would you say that lime truck was ?
A Well, he wouldn’t have been over fifty feet.
Q Was he as long or longer than you ?
A I would say we were both about the same length.
Q You were about the same length?
A Yes, sir.
Q Was the lime coming out the back or front of his vehicle ?
A Coming out of the back of his trailer.
Q Could you see how it was coming out? Was it coming out all on the right side, or all on the left side, or all up and down the back of the truck ?
A Well, I couldn’t tell.
Q You weren’t particularly paying any attention to him?
A Well, I wasn’t particularly interested.
Q All right. Was the lime blowing across the roadway in front of you?
A There was a mist, yes, sir.
Q How thick was that mist ?
A Well, it wasn’t bad until I got right there at the truck.
Q Until you got to the rear of the truck ?
A Yes, sir.
Q How far from the rear of the truck ?
A Just right on it.
Q All right. You kinda underestimated it, I guess ?
A No. I was just right at the truck whenever it got real heavy.
Q When you first saw the lime truck was it kicking up a lot of dust or just a little bit?
A Well, it wasn’t very bad when I first seen it; and as I come on down the road, it still wasn’t very bad.
Q And by not very bad, do you mean that you could see through it completely ?
A Yes, sir.”

On pages 89-90 Baird testified:

“Q All right, sir, you had your eyes straight on down the road ?
A I was watching the road, yes, sir.
Q And at that time, you could see pretty far on down the road, could you not, sir?
A Not at the time I hit him, no, sir.
[524]*524Q How far could you see down the road?

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Related

Rosenfield v. Hull
304 S.W.2d 571 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1957)
Red Fish Boat Company v. Jarvis Press, Inc.
361 S.W.2d 588 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1962)

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Bluebook (online)
407 S.W.2d 521, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kimbro-v-robertson-tank-lines-inc-texapp-1966.