McClary v. Endom's Transfer & Storage Garage

139 So. 702, 19 La. App. 515, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 105
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 16, 1932
DocketNo. 4226
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 139 So. 702 (McClary v. Endom's Transfer & Storage Garage) 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
McClary v. Endom's Transfer & Storage Garage, 139 So. 702, 19 La. App. 515, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 105 (La. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

MeGREGOR, J.

This is a suit for damages arising out of a collision between plaintiff’s Buick sedan and defendants’ Yellow Cab at the intersection of Jackson and Grammont streets in the city of Monroe, Ouachita parish. On March 18, 1931, at about 9:15 o’clock p. m., the plaintiff’s said automobile, driven by his minor son, seventeen years of age, and filled with passengers, was proceeding south on Jackson street, and defendants’ Yellow Cab was traveling east on Grammont street. While both cars were attempting to cross the intersection, a collision occurred between them in the southwest quadrant of the intersection; that is, at a point south of the. center of Grammont street and west of the center of Jackson street. Plaintiff’s car went a few feet toward the southeast, turned halfway around, and fell on its left side, with the front end pointing in a westerly direction on Jackson street, and the four wheels extending toward the north.' When [703]*703it stopped in this position, it was just a few inches south of the intersection of the two streets and just east of the street railway tracks that run north and south in the center of Jackson street. The Yellow Cah stopped almost instantly and proceeded no further after the collision. All the occupants of the sedan, six in all, were lifted from it as it was lying on its left side and, fortunately, none of them ■ received injuries.

The sedan was practically demolished, and the plaintiff brought this suit for §763.50, the sum which he estimates will be necessary to restore the car to its original condition. In his petition he alleges that the collision was the result of the negligence of the defendants’ chauffeur in driving the' Yellow Cab in a reckless manner in violation of law; that at the time of the accident the said chauffeur was acting within the scope of his employment and was performing service for his employers. Jackson street is a right of way street, and the traffic laws of the city of Monroe require that any person driving a vehicle from any intersecting street, such as Grammont, across or into it shall come to a full stop at a point not more than fifteen feet from the intersection and not proceed until he has ascertained that no vehicle is traveling the said right of way street sufficiently near to the intersection to render a collision or accident probable. Plaintiff alleges that defendants’ chauffeur violated this provision of the law, in that he did not bring his car to a full stop at a point not more than fifteen feet from the intersection. It is also alleged that he violated the law, in that he was traveling at a rate of speed in excess of fifteen miles per hour, the maximum allowed by law on that street.

In their answer the defendants deny all negligence generally. They allege particularly that the accident was caused by the reckless, careless, and unlawful manner in which plaintiff’s son drove the Buick sedan, and as plaintiffs in reconvention, pray for $7 damages for the injury done to their Yellow Oab in the collision.

Judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff by the trial judge for the sum of $400. The defendants appealed, and the plaintiff has answered the appeal and asked that the judgment be amended by increasing it to the amount originally prayed for in his petition.

The evidence in the case is conflicting. All the plaintiff’s witnesses testify that the sedan was being driven at a rate of speed not to exceed fifteen or twenty miles per hour, and that the Yellow Cab, shortly before the collision, was being driven as fast as forty-five miles per hour. Dr. W. Y. Garnier of Bastrop, La., testified that he was standing in a filling station at the northwest corner of the intersection at the time of the collision. He was facing the intersection and saw both cars before the collision and after it occurred. He states that plaintiff’s sedan was being driven at a moderate rate of speed, about fifteen or twenty miles per hour, and that the Yellow Oab was going at the rate of forty-five miles per hour. He states positively that the cab did not stop at the intersection as required by law, but that the driver applied his brakes at about the edge of the intersection, and that the shriek of the brakes, the sliding of the wheels, and the impact of hitting the sedan were almost simultaneous. He testifies positively that the sedan entered the intersection first and had practically crossed the center of Gram-mont street when the cab, coming from the west, struck it broadside at a point near the right rear wheel or fender. Sol Snyder, also a resident of Bastrop, La., was an eyewitness to the accident. He had brought Dr. Garnier to Monroe in his automobile. At the moment of the collision he was sitting in his car, which was parked on the south side of Grammont street, facing east, just west of the intersection where the two cars collided. This position was just south of and across the street from where Dr. Garnier was standing, so that he had as perfect a view of the accident as the doctor did, except that it was from a different angle. As the Yellow Oab approached the intersection, it came from the west or rear of Snyder’s position, but at the immediate time of the collision the cars were clearly in front of him in full view. He stated that he saw the Buick sedan traveling in a southerly direction on the right side of Jackson street at a speed of about twenty miles per hour, and that the front wheels were well beyond the center of Grammont street when it was struck by the Yellow Oab broadside near.the right rear wheel. He is positive in his testimony that just prior to the accident the Yellow Oab was proceeding in an easterly direction on Grammont street, running at a speed of about forty-five miles per hour, and that it did not stop prior to reaching the intersection. Mr. J. B. McCoy, an employee of the filling station, with whom Dr. Gamier was transacting business, did not see the accident itself as his back was turned to it, but he testified that the impact between the two cars produced a loud noise which, of course, attracted his attention. As soon as he could turn around and look in the direction from which the loud noise came, he saw the Buick sedan on its left side in Jackson street, just past the intersection, as has heretofore been described.

Samuel H. McOlary, Jr., son of the plaintiff, testified that he was the driver of the Buick sedan at the time of the collision. It is his testimony that he was proceeding south on the right-hand side of Jackson street at a speed of about fifteen miles per hour, and that he was well into the inters [704]*704section when he saw the defendants’ Yellow Oab coming from the west on Grammont street, traveling at a very rapid rate of speed; that the Yellow Cab did not' stop before entering the intersection and attempting to cross Jackson street; that he tried to avoid the collision by swerving his_ car to the left, but was prevented froin doing so by the Yellow Oab striking his car near the right rear wheel. Mrs. Samuel H. McOlary, wife of the plaintiff and mother of the young man who was driving, testified to practically the same state of facts that her son did. She had every opportunity to know exactly how the collision occurred as she was sitting on the front seat at the right of her son.

On the rear seat of the sedan were Mrs. J. A. Irving, two Misses Boynton and a little child. Mrs. Irving and one of the Misses Boynton testified for the plaintiff. Their testimony corroborates that of Mrs. McOlary and her son in every.respect. They are positive that the sedan was traveling no faster than fifteen miles per hour and that the Yellow Cab was running at a rate of forty-five miles per hour.

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Bluebook (online)
139 So. 702, 19 La. App. 515, 1932 La. App. LEXIS 105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcclary-v-endoms-transfer-storage-garage-lactapp-1932.