Miller v. Riss & Co.

259 S.W.2d 366
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 8, 1953
Docket43172
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 259 S.W.2d 366 (Miller v. Riss & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Riss & Co., 259 S.W.2d 366 (Mo. 1953).

Opinion

259 S.W.2d 366 (1953)

MILLER
v.
RISS & CO., Inc. et al.

No. 43172.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

June 8, 1953.
Motion for Rehearing or to Transfer to Denied July 13, 1953.

*367 Louis Yaffe, St. Louis (Charles M. Shaw and Wayne C. Smith, Jr., Clayton, of counsel), for appellant.

Harlan & Harlan, John L. Harlan, Jr., Clayton (Joseph Nessenfeld, St. Louis, of counsel), for respondent.

Motion for Rehearing or to Transfer to Court en Banc Denied July 13, 1953.

DALTON, Judge.

Action for $25,000 damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained when the automobile in which plaintiff was riding as a guest of her husband came into collision with a tractor-trailer. The cause was dismissed as to defendant Acuff at the close of plaintiff's case, and thereafter, verdict and judgment were for defendant Riss and Company, hereinafter referred to as defendant. Plaintiff has appealed.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in giving Instruction No. 6 and in admitting certain evidence offered by defendant. Instruction No. 6 purports to be a "sole cause" instruction based upon the alleged negligence of the driver of the automobile in which plaintiff was riding. Since it is contended that the instruction is, in certain respects, unsupported by any evidence in the case, we shall carefully review the applicable testimony.

Plaintiff testified that, late in the afternoon of October 20, 1950, she was returning from downtown St. Louis with her husband in his automobile. They were traveling west on Cass avenue, approaching the intersection of Cass avenue with Hadley. When they were between one-half block and a block from the intersection, she saw defendant's tractor-trailer stopped "right close" to the north curb of Cass at Cass and Hadley. She also said "it seems to me it was stopped." The automobile in which she was riding came up very slowly and "moved to a stop." The automobile was "towards the back of the trailer," when the tractor-trailer "moved first" and made a sharp turn to the left (south) so that the trailer hit the front part of the automobile and dragged it to the left. Her husband turned his automobile sharply to the left to avoid contact with the trailer, but he was unable to prevent a collision. Plaintiff was thrown forward inside the automobile and her knee hurt and other injuries were sustained. She admitted that she had sustained prior injuries to her knee in a fall about 20 or 25 years ago and also in 1937, and that she had been in an automobile collision in 1949, when she "was just shook up." After her fall in 1937, she did not return to work "until about 1941 or 1942."

*368 Plaintiff's husband (Miller), as a witness for her, testified that on the occasion in question he was driving west on Cass at 15 to 16 miles per hour and, when within some one-half to three-fourths of a block from Hadley, he saw defendant's truck parked on the north side of Cass, two or three feet from the north curb. The truck was parked east of Hadley, but "blocking the railroad crossing" at Cass and Hadley. Miller proceeded in his own lane, approximately two or three feet, north of the center line of Cass. There was a space of some 15 feet between the center line of the street and the side of the tractor-trailer and some 4 to 6 feet between the two vehicles. Miller's automobile was 7 or 8 feet wide. Cass was "about a 50-foot street." Miller had decreased his speed to 8 to 10 miles per hour by the time he was 15 feet from the rear of the trailer and when "about half way alongside of the trailer," "approaching it alongside of it," and "was practically stopped," the tractor-trailer started to move and, without notice, signal or warning, made a sharp turn to the left. Miller applied his brakes and swerved to the left. The rear wheels of the trailer caught onto the front bumper at the right side of the automobile and "started dragging" the automobile. The tractor-trailer stopped a half-block south on Hadley after the vehicles separated and Miller had followed and sounded his horn, signaling for a stop. The collision took place 10 or 12 feet, or more, east of the east line of Hadley. There was some traffic coming east on Cass as Miller approached the intersection. Miller also testified that he was driving about 8 to 10 miles per hour, more or less, when he attempted to pass the tractor-trailer. He further testified: "I had the right front wheel, the tire, and the right front headlight, door over my headlights damaged, and the bumper on the right side was damaged, and also there was a few minor things caused fron the damage when the truck-trailer hooked onto my bumper and tilted it, it damaged a few panels on the left side that connect with the bumper."

Defendant's witness and driver, Roy Cates, testified that he was involved in a collision with the Miller automobile at Cass and Hadley avenues on or about October 20, 1950. At the time he was operating a Corbett tractor, with an eight wheel, tandem action, aluminum Riss trailer attached. The eight wheels were at the rear of the trailer. The total length of the tractor and trailer was about 42 feet. He had entered Cass at Eleventh street and was proceeding west on Cass, driving awful slow, because he wanted to make a turn onto Hadley, and traffic was crowding him there from the west. Visibility was good and the streets were level. He was traveling about 5 miles per hour as he approached Hadley. There were two lines of traffic eastbound and he had been forced over slightly to the right or north, but not over 3 or 4 feet from the white center line. As traffic gave way, he tried to work back to the line. As soon as the eastbound traffic broke to where he had an opening, he signaled a left-hand turn with his hand lowered and pulled to the center of the street, commenced to swing the tractor around and went to the center of Hadley and proceeded to make a left turn. He felt no collision at any time, but, when he was fairly well out of the turn and had begun to straighten out, an automobile came up beside the tractor, sounding the horn, and pulled in front of the tractor. Cates pulled to the right curb and stopped. The driver of the automobile contended that he had been hit and that Cates was leaving the scene of an accident. Cates, accompanied by a police officer, examined both vehicles, but could find no damage to either the automobile or to the tractor or trailer. The Miller car later left on its own power. Cates did not completely stop at Hadley, but had hand signaled for a stop and, when traffic cleared, he lowered his hand, signaling for a left turn. He then looked in the side mirror to see if any one was crowding him. It was just a second before he turned. There was traffic behind, but none up close enough to be dangerous, no car was within 20 or 30 feet or more behind his trailer. No one was coming up the side when he started the left turn. No one was trying to pass. To have passed, a car would have had to swing across south of the center line of the street. The car he saw behind him was *369 a safe distance from him (Cates) to make a left turn, when he turned. When he saw that it was clear, he started to pick up speed for the turn, because he had slowed below 5 miles per hour. He felt no jar and did not think it possible that the trailer could have caught onto the Miller automobile and he (Cates) not know of it. When Cates stopped, Miller claimed that the left rear wheel of the trailer had collided with his automobile. Cates testified that he did not know whether there had been a collision or not, as he only had Miller's word for it.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Joe Frazier v. City of Kansas City, Missouri
467 S.W.3d 327 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2015)
Precision Electric, Inc. v. Ex-Amish Specialties, Inc.
400 S.W.3d 802 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2013)
Lush v. Woods
978 S.W.2d 521 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1998)
Jines v. Young
732 S.W.2d 938 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
Robertson v. Grotheer
521 S.W.2d 452 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1975)
Hampton v. Cantrell
464 S.W.2d 744 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1971)
Welch v. Sheley
443 S.W.2d 110 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1969)
Dintelman v. McHalffey
435 S.W.2d 633 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1968)
Burgdorfer Electric Co. v. Voyles Construction Co.
432 S.W.2d 387 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1968)
Doisy v. Edwards
398 S.W.2d 846 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1966)
Wilkerson v. Smith
366 S.W.2d 511 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1963)
Merritt v. Mantony
353 S.W.2d 768 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1962)
Tomlin v. Alford
351 S.W.2d 705 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1961)
Gooch v. Avsco, Incorporated
337 S.W.2d 245 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1960)
Elliott v. Wescoat
336 S.W.2d 649 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1960)
McFarland v. Wildhaber
334 S.W.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1960)
Daniels v. Smith
323 S.W.2d 705 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1959)
Pieper v. Lewis
321 S.W.2d 4 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1959)
Picarella v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
316 S.W.2d 642 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1958)
Gaskill v. Cook
315 S.W.2d 747 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
259 S.W.2d 366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-riss-co-mo-1953.