Lanier v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.

79 So. 2d 179, 1955 La. App. LEXIS 714
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 25, 1955
DocketNo. 3969
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 79 So. 2d 179 (Lanier v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity 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
Lanier v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 79 So. 2d 179, 1955 La. App. LEXIS 714 (La. Ct. App. 1955).

Opinions

ELLIS, Judge.

This is a suit by John H. Lanier and Elizabeth Williams Lanier, father and mother respectively of Preston Luke La-nier who was killed in an automobile accident on April 18, 1947 at approximately 12:30 P.M., as the result of a collision between the log truck which he was driving and a log truck belonging to the defendant, Hillery Simmons, and being driven by one Dermont Lambert, and a pick-up truck owned by the defendant, A. R. Bloss-man, Co., being driven by A. R. Tweedy who at the time was the Tangipahoa Parish manager for the Blossman Company.

Plaintiff charges the defendant with the following negligence:

“a. In attempting to pass a parked vehicle without ascertaining whether or not safe passage could be negotiated.
“b. In failing to accord converging traffic its proper side of the highway.
“c. In pulling out in front of converging traffic.
“d. In not having their vehicles under control sufficiently to enable them to stop behind parked traffic to enable converging traffic to safely pass.
“e. In failing to sound horn or other warning in passing traffic.
“f. That the first and second named defendants were negligent in attempting to pass an automobile on the upgrade of a hill without ascertaining that said passage could be safely made.
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“And, in the alternative only your petitioners show that if their son could be charged with negligence then and in that event that he was presented with a sudden emergency by traffic pulling into his traffic lane and that he chose the safest course and negligence cannot be imputed to him for electing between hazards and your petitioners further show in the alternative that in the event any negligence could be chargeable to their deceased son or imputable to them, then and in that event only that such negligence was the remote cause of the accident and the negligence proximately causing the accident and resulting death of petitioners’ son was the acts of negligence of both first and second named defendants in pulling into the eastern bound traffic lane or that lane being traversed by petitioners’ son, and your petitioners further show in the alternative that in the event their son was negligent in any respect then and in that event only [181]*181that the first and second named defendants had the last clear chance of avoiding the accident and that second and third named defendants had discovered the peril of his automobile in front of them and said first and second named defendants irrespective of this discovered peril proceeded to attempt to pass the same on the upgrade of a hill with traffic converging upon them, consisting of truck operated by decedent fully laden with logs; * *

The Blossman Company, Inc. and its insurer, both defendants, specifically denied any act of negligence as charged in the plaintiffs’ petition and in the alternative plead contributory negligence on the part of the deceased son and driver of the log truck, Preston Lanier, in driving the truck at a fast and excessive rate of speed and not having it under proper care and control and in not maintaining the proper lookout.

The defendant Simmons specifically denied the acts of negligence charged to the driver of his truck by the plaintiff.

The Liberty Mutual Insurance Company filed a petition of intervention claiming the amount paid by it in a lump sum settlement of the compensation claim on behalf of young Lanier.

The case was duly tried before Judge Nathan B. Tycer who became ill and was retired prior to a decision in the matter. It was then submitted to Judge Warren W. Cornish upon the transcript of testimony and briefs and judgment was rendered in favor of each parent, plaintiffs herein, in the sum of $5,000 with interest at 5% per annum from date of judicial demand until paid. Judgment was further rendered in favor of the intervenor for the reimbursement of $2805 paid by it in settlement of the compensation claim of young Lanier.

It must be remembered that the Judge of the Lower Court who had tried the case and heard and observed the witnesses is not the Judge who rendered the decision. Therefore, we are in equally the same position as the Judge of the Lower Court who rendered judgment in this matter. We, as well as the Lower Court, must take a cold record and try to arrive at a fair and just conclusion in the matter.

From this judgment A. R. Blossman Co. Inc. and its insurer, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, have appealed. There was no appeal by Hillary Simmons.

Plaintiffs apparently base their prayer for an affirmance of the judgment of the Lower Court upon two grounds:

1. That the front left wheel of the Simmons truck at the time of the accident was a short distance over the center line of the road and that the Blossman truck was a greater distance over the center line and that the log truck being driven by the deceased, Preston Lanier, did not have a sufficient distance remaining in his lane of travel to avoid the collision ;

2. That an emergency was created by Simmons and Blossman in pulling out into the south or east bound lane of traffic in order to pass a parked vehicle in the north or west bound lane of traffic at a time when the log truck driven by Preston La-nier was approaching.

As a proper decision in this case is dependent upon the facts it is necessary that they be reviewed somewhat in detail.

It is shown that this collision occurred near the driveway leading to the home of one Bridges and according to the testimony Preston Lanier was driving a loaded log truck in an easterly direction and had reached the crest of a slight hill and was coming down the incline when the collision occurred. It is shown by the testimony of a civil engineer that from the crest of the slope to the driveway of the Bridges’ home was approximately 900 feet and from the crest of the hill looking east to a curve in the road was approximately 1500 or 1600 feet. It is also shown that there was an average incline of three feet per hundred feet going down this so-called hill. It is further shown by the civil engineer that the width of this gravel road in front of the Bridges’ residence where the collision [182]*182took place was a little more than 20 feet wide from ditch to ditch.

It is shown by the testimony that just prior to the collision the truck of the defendant Simmons was being- driven by Lambert in a westerly direction on the gravel highway leading from the town of Tangipahoa, and was being followed by a pick-up truck belonging to the defendant, A. R. Blossman, Co., and driven by its manager Tweedy, and coming from the west were two loaded log trucks, both going to the same mill. Parked in the north or west bound lane of traffic near the driveway of the Bridges’ home was a Ford car. The driver of the Simmons log truck proceeding in a westerly direction came up behind this parked Ford truck . and saw the first loaded log truck being driven by one Jones approaching from the west and he stopped his truck. The Blossman truck then came up behind the parked Simmons truck and stopped. The loaded log truck driven by Jones proceeded to pass in the south or east bound traffic lane. It is from this point that the testimony is 'in conflict.

Plaintiff contends that as.

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Related

Lanier v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.
84 So. 2d 173 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1955)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
79 So. 2d 179, 1955 La. App. LEXIS 714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lanier-v-hartford-accident-indemnity-co-lactapp-1955.