Le Beau v. Baton Rouge Bus Co.

136 So. 2d 740, 1961 La. App. LEXIS 1656
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 27, 1961
Docket5426
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 136 So. 2d 740 (Le Beau v. Baton Rouge Bus 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
Le Beau v. Baton Rouge Bus Co., 136 So. 2d 740, 1961 La. App. LEXIS 1656 (La. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

136 So.2d 740 (1961)

Elsie LE BEAU, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
BATON ROUGE BUS CO., Inc., Defendant Appellee.

No. 5426.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 27, 1961.
Rehearing Denied February 6, 1962.
Certiorari Denied March 16, 1962.

Cobb & Brewer, by Arthur Cobb, Baton Rouge, for appellant.

Taylor, Porter, Brooks, Fuller & Phillips, by Frank W. Middleton, Jr., Baton Rouge, for appellee.

Before ELLIS, HERGET and MILLER, JJ.

ELLIS, Judge.

It is agreed by counsel that there is no dispute as to the factual issue involved in this case but counsel for plaintiff-appellant contends that the Lower Court erred in its interpretation of the facts and the law applicable thereto.

On May 8th, 1959 the plaintiff, Elsie LeBeau, boarded a bus owned and operated by the defendant, Baton Rouge Bus Company, Inc., at the intersection of North Street and North Eighth Street and remained standing in the bus although seats were available at the time. The bus was traveling east on North Street at a speed of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour, and when it neared the intersection of North Ninth with North Street, the traffic light was green for traffic on North Street and the operator of the bus therefore continued *741 into the intersection, intending to cross on the green light.

As one approaches this intersection the view of the traffic on North Ninth Street approaching from the left is obstructed until one is almost into the intersection by a house and a raised yard surrounded by a brick wall built close to the street. The light in the intersection having turned green just before the bus got there, the operator continued at twenty or twenty-five miles per hour, the speed limit being thirty miles per hour at that time, and just as he reached the intersection and prior to entering it, he saw a car coming down Ninth Street, which was approximately fifty feet north of the intersection, headed south and traveling at a speed of forty or fifty or sixty miles per hour, but which he realized in any event was going so fast that the driver obviously could not come to a stop before running the red light. The operator of the bus immediately put on his brakes in order to prevent a collision with the car which enabled the driver of the unknown car to swerve to its left and pass in front of the bus before the latter stopped approximately half way into the intersection.

The plaintiff had not gone to any seat but was standing in the bus but behind the driver, and when the brakes were applied she fell forward and the operator of the bus threw out his arm in an attempt to catch her but she fell across his lap and bumped her head on the windshield of the bus immediately in front of the driver's seat. There is not the least doubt but that if the bus driver had not made an emergency stop he would have had a collision with the fast moving motor vehicle which ran the red light. There is no doubt but that the corner is somewhat of a blind corner, but is controlled by the electric semaphore light which was green for the bus.

There was quite a bit of testimony taken on the trial with regard to the question of whether or not the plaintiff was waiting for change and that is why she was supposed to be standing behind the driver, however, the lower court resolved this fact against her. Counsel for plaintiff in his brief does not raise this factual issue on appeal. Without that there is no reason why the plaintiff should not have been sitting down as seats were available and the bus had traveled a whole block after she had boarded it.

Counsel for plaintiff has, in his brief, however, suggested that the bus driver was negligent for not "suggesting to plaintiff that she take a seat and not calling to her attention that it was dangerous for her to stand in the aisle." He cites no authorities to support this contention however counsel for defendant has cited to us Murphy v. New Orleans Public Service, La. App., 169 So. 890; Thomas v. Shreveport Rys. Co., La.App., 187 So. 822, and Miller v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc., La.App., 196 So. 86. In the Murphy case it was held that a "Driver of trackless trolley bus held under no obligation to wait until passengers were seated before resuming journey." In the Thomas case the Court recognized that the Supreme Court had ruled that a motorman is not required to keep his bus stopped until a plaintiff is seated, citing Sharp v. New Orleans City Railroad Company, 111 La. 395, 35 So. 614. In this case the plaintiff proved that she had handed the motorman a fifty cent piece and requested him to sell her a book of four tickets and waited for the book and the change. After the motorman handed the change and book to her she turned and faced the farther end of the trolley with the intention of immediately proceeding to the seat reserved for colored patrons, but before reaching it the trolley, which had been moving forward, came to a sudden stop which caused her to loose her balance and fall. The operator of the trolley flatly denied any such incident, however, the court accepted the plaintiff's testimony and that of corroborative witnesses and gave judgment for the plaintiff. The court recognized the law to be that an operator of a trolley did not have to wait until the passenger reached the seat but could not without rhyme or reason, suddenly stop the trolley. In the Miller case the Orleans, *742 now the Fourth Circuit, Court of Appeal held that unless there was something about the passenger's appearance to make it apparent that the passenger was old or infirm, or otherwise physically incapacitated, or is unusually incumbered with bundles, it is not negligent for the operator of a street car to cause it to start before the passenger has obtained a seat. Therefore, in the case at bar there was no duty upon the operator of the bus to warn or suggest to the passenger that it would be dangerous for her to stand. In addition, there were seats available and plenty of time for her to have occupied one before the bus had traveled the entire block.

There is no question but that the law is well settled that upon the showing of injury of a fare paying passenger in a public carrier it establishes a prima facie case of negligence and imposes upon the carrier the burden of overcoming such a case. Also, the public carriers owe the highest degree of care with respect to their passengers. Coleman v. Continental Southern Lines, Inc., La.App., 107 So.2d 69; Peters v. City of Monroe, La.App., 91 So.2d 428; Harris v. Shreveport Railways Company, La.App., 83 So.2d 517; Pero v. Shreveport Rys. Co., La.App., 78 So.2d 66; Dickson v. Yellow Cab Co. of Shreveport, Inc., La.App., 61 So.2d 230; Woods v. Hinton, La.App., 116 So.2d 208; Mansfield v. Toye Bros. Yellow Cab Co., La.App., 78 So.2d 544; Hopper v. Shreveport Rys. Co., La.App., 51 So.2d 845, and other cases too numerous to cite.

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Bluebook (online)
136 So. 2d 740, 1961 La. App. LEXIS 1656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/le-beau-v-baton-rouge-bus-co-lactapp-1961.