Lesoon v. Yellow Cab Co.

171 A.2d 877, 195 Pa. Super. 470, 1961 Pa. Super. LEXIS 664
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 15, 1961
DocketAppeal, No. 265
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 171 A.2d 877 (Lesoon v. Yellow Cab Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lesoon v. Yellow Cab Co., 171 A.2d 877, 195 Pa. Super. 470, 1961 Pa. Super. LEXIS 664 (Pa. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

Opinion by

Wright, J.,

In the early evening of January 22, 1957, Louise Lesoon was a passenger in a taxicab of the Yellow Cab Company of Pittsburgh, hereinafter referred to as the Company. The operator of the cab was Darwin Wallace. At the intersection of Monitor Street and Beechwood Boulevard in the City of Pittsburgh, there was a collision between the cab and an automobile operated by Edward W. Bell. Mrs. Lesoon instituted a trespass action against the Company, which joined Bell as additional defendant. Following a four-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Bell, and a verdict in favor of the plaintiff against the Company in the amount of $55.00. Plaintiff filed a motion for a new trial and the Company filed a motion for judgment n.o.v., both of which motions were refused by the court en banc. Two judgments were thereafter entered, one on the verdict against the Company in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $55.00, and one on the verdict in favor of Bell and against the Company. Plaintiff has appealed.

At the time of the collision, appellant was thirty-nine years of age and was employed as the manager of a dress shop in East Liberty. She had boarded the cab at Penn and Highland Avenues, intending to go to a church in Homestead. Beechwood Boulevard is a through street running generally north and south. Monitor Street runs generally east and west. Bell was [473]*473proceeding north on Beechwood Boulevard. Wallace was proceeding west on Monitor Street, intending to make a left turn. The only eyewitnesses to the collision were appellant, Wallace and Bell. Appellant testified that the taxicab did not stop at the intersection but pulled out into the northbound traffic lanes of Beechwood Boulevard and then stopped. She further testified that she told Wallace he was blocking traffic and requested him to move forward or back, but that he failed to do either. Wallace testified that he had plenty of time to cross the intersection ahead of Bell, but heard appellant scream and jammed on his brakes. Bell testified that he was traveling at a speed of fifteen to twenty miles per hour; that the cab was “slowing up like it was going to stop”, but came out of Monitor Street without stopping; cut sharply to the south; and “sideswiped my driver’s side”. Following the collision, representatives of the Company took appellant to the Homestead Hospital where she was examined and released without treatment of any kind. After seeing her brother-in-law, Dr. Shakir T. Ilyas, she went to church, as was her original intention.

On this appeal, appellant advances two contentions, the second of which will be first disposed of because it merits only brief consideration. It is argued that Bell “was clearly guilty of negligence”, and that the verdict in his favor ivas against the law and the evidence. Appellant’s position is that Bell’s testimony established that he did not yield the right-of-way, as required by Section 1013 of The Vehicle Code.1 However, our review of the record indicates that this was a matter for the jury. See Bell v. Dugan, 189 Pa. Superior Ct. 322, 150 A. 2d 553. It should be noted that [474]*474appellant asserted in her complaint that her injuries were due solely to the Company’s negligence. Bell was brought into the case by the Company on the basis of an averment that he was either solely or jointly liable. The jury determined this issue adversely to the Company’s contention, and the Company has not appealed from the judgment against it in favor of Bell.

Appellant’s primary and principal contention is that the verdict is inadequate. The position of the Company at the trial, and on this appeal, is that appellant was actually not injured in the collision. This pivotal issue was submitted to the jury by the trial judge in a thorough and impartial charge concerning which no complaint is made. The court en banc carefully reviewed the testimony “in order to determine whether or not reasonable minds could logically come to the conclusion that the plaintiff was not injured in the accident”, and concluded that the verdict of the jury was not against the weight of the evidence or shocking to the judicial conscience. We have also carefully reviewed this voluminous original record and agree with the court below that the verdict of the jury was fully justified under the testimony.

The photographs admitted as exhibits indicate that the collision was of minor consequence. Neither Bell nor Wallace was injured. Mrs. Lesoon was sitting on the auxiliary rear seat on the left side. She testified that she was thrown out of the cab, but this was denied by Wallace who stated that Mrs. Lesoon did not leave her seat until after the accident; that she then opened the door on the right-hand side of the cab and stepped out into the street. Mrs. Lesoon finally admitted on cross-examination that she did not actually know whether or not she was thrown from the cab. The day after the collision Mrs. Lesoon returned to the Homestead Hospital for x-rays, which proved to be negative. She then went back to work. The charge [475]*475of tlie Homestead Hospital for the initial examination and tlie x-rays was $55.00, and this bill was specifically mentioned in the verdict of the jury as the basis for its award. On the question of damages, Mrs. Lesoon testified at considerable length. She complained of pain in her neck and shoulder and particularly of pressure in her head. She stated that she was very nervous and fearful and could not do her work properly. Robert V. Klein, her employer, testified that appellant was irritable and that her work record was not as good as previously, although her salary was not reduced. Appellant’s condition following the collision was also described by Afeefy Kohrey, her sister and receptionist for Dr. Ilyas, and by Maude Christenson, a domestic servant.

The medical testimony adduced on behalf of appellant was not convincing and actually contradictory in certain respects. Dr. Ilyas testified that appellant had suffered a brain concussion, and his eventual diagnosis also included a whiplash injury to the neck with resulting neurasthenia. He gave his sister-in-law some eighty diathermy treatments, but presented no bill because of the family relationship. Dr. Bernard Johnston, a neurological and neurosurgical examiner, who examined appellant on one occasion, February 20, 1957, testified that there was limitation in motion of the neck, with tenderness at the sixth cervical vertebrae. He also stated that the x-rays taken at the Homestead Hospital indicated injuries to appellant’s neck and back. This statement was in conflict with the testimony of appellant’s other medical witnesses, who all agreed that the x-rays disclosed no injuries. Dr. D. I. Jamison, Jr., a specialist in neuro-psychiatry, testified that he examined appellant on one occasion, March 24, 1959, and that she had a post traumatic neurosis. He indicated that appellant was a neurotic, a term which Dr. Ilyas refused to employ. Dr. M. S. DeRoy treated [476]*476appellant from March 10, 1959 to May 26, 1959. He found no evidence of fracture, but diagnosed ber condition as a sprain of the spine.

For the Company, Hr. Herbert Uram testified that he examined appellant on March 19, 1957, that she was tense and apprehensive, but that he found no evidence of abnormality, no disease of the nerves, and no organic cause for her complaints. He made the following pertinent statement: “I do not feel that she has suffered any actual physical disability as the result of this accident”. Hr. Wilbert S. Mellon, Jr., a diagnostic roentgenologist, also testified for the Company.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
171 A.2d 877, 195 Pa. Super. 470, 1961 Pa. Super. LEXIS 664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lesoon-v-yellow-cab-co-pasuperct-1961.