Moore v. Bryan

183 S.E. 117, 52 Ga. App. 272, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 137
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided December 16, 1935·No. 24937·Published·Cited by 19 cases

Opinion

Sutton, J.

Moore brought suit against Bryan, Byck, and the Byck Electric Company, to recover damages on account of injuries alleged to have been the result of the joint and concurrent negligence of Bryan and Byck, the negligence of Byck being chargeable to the corporate defendant. The plaintiff made substantially the following allegations in his petition: He was riding as a guest in a Plymouth automobile driven by Bryan and proceeding along the highway at an unlawful rate of speed at the time in question. A Chevrolet automobile belonging to the Byck Electric Company and driven by Byck, the authorized agent of said company, was approaching from the opposite direction, it also was being driven at the time at an unlawful rate of speed. This automobile overtook a “Model T Ford” automobile driven by one Butts, traveling in the same direction, as the Chevrolet; and being unable to stop the Chevrolet, Byck suddenly turned the steering-wheel and swerved his car to the left and directly in front of the automobile in which the plaintiff was riding and which was approaching from the opposite direction, the Plymouth being on the left side of the road so far as the Chevrolet was concerned. Thereupon the Chevrolet and Plymouth cars collided, and the plaintiff was injured. The highway at this point was straight and free from obstruction. Both automobiles were being driven at the time at about 70 miles per hour. In paragraph 10 of the petition the plaintiff alleges that “Bryan was driving his said automobile, as aforesaid, on the right-hand side of the center of the highway, and that at the point of meeting the T. Ford automobile, above referred to, the defendant, Sylvan M. Byck, drove the Chevrolet automobile, as aforesaid, in and on to his left-hand side of the center of the said highway, directly in front of the automobile in which petitioner was riding, as aforesaid, thus causing the two automobiles to collide, almost head-on;” that the defendants are jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff, the collision being the result of the joint and concurrent negligence of Byck as agent of the Byck Electric Company, in the operation of the Chevrolet, while engaged in the business of said company, “and that while so engaged he did drive the said Chevrolet automobile on to the left-hand side of the center of said highway, and directly in front of the car driven by Cabaniss A. [274] Bryan as herein set forth; that the said Cabaniss A. Bryan, in whose ear petitioner was riding as a passenger, was driving the same at a terrific and dangerous rate of speed on said highway, and directly in and on to the automobile of the said Byck Electric Company, driven by the said Sylvan M. Byck as above set forth; that the cause of said injuries, suffering, and damages was a joint and concurrent act caused by said collision, as above set forth.” The negligent acts of each defendant were set forth as follows: “(a) Sylvan II. Byck, as agent of the Byck Electric Company, a corporation, . . drove together the said automobiles, causing a head-on collision which injured and damaged petitioner in the manner above set forth, (b) That the collision and the driving together of said automobiles . . was due to, caused by, and the sole result of the negligence of the said Sylvan M. Byck as agent of the Byck Electric Company, Byck.Electric Company, and Cabaniss A. Bryan, (c) That the defendants, Sylvan M. Byck as agent of the Byck Electric Company, and Sylvan M. Byck, were negligent in not driving the said automobile to the right-hand side of the automobile of the said Cabaniss A. Bryan, thus preventing the collision and injury to petitioner; there being.space sufficient to pass safely between the T. Model Ford automobile operated by Charlie Butts, and the automobile operated by the defendant Cabaniss A. Bryan, without striking and colliding with same as herein alleged, thereby preventing the collision and injury to petitioner. . . (d) That the said Cabaniss A. Bryan was negligent in not having his said automobile under control and driving same to his extreme right, thus avoiding colliding with the automobile of the Byck Electric Company, operated by Sylvan M. Byck. . . (e) The Byck Electric Company, a corporation, through its agent Sylvan M. Byck, and Sylvan M. Byck were negligent in driving said automobile on said highway at a rate of speed in excess of 40 miles per hour, and in violation of the statute of the State of Georgia, on account of said excessive speed, and in violation of the statute of the State of Georgia the said automobile was beyond the control of the operator, the said Sylvan M. Byck, thus jointbv, with the negligence of Cabaniss A. Bryan, caused the collision and injuries as above set forth, (f) The Byck Electric Company, a corporation, through its agent Sylvan M. Byck, and Sylvan M. Byck were negligent in not looking on the left-hand side of said [275] highway before driving said Chevrolet automobile thereon, and in attempting to pass the said Ford car on the left-hand side of the highway without first looking to see whether or not there were cars approaching in the opposite direction, (g) The defendant Cabaniss A. Bryan was guilty of gross negligence in driving his said Plymouth automobile at an excessive and dangerous rate of speed, in violation of the statutes of the State of Georgia, (h) The said Cabaniss A. Bryan was negligent in not keeping his said automobile under control, so that said automobile could have been stopped in order to have prevented the collision as above referred to. The defendant Cabaniss A. Bryan was guilty of gross negligence in driving his said Plymouth automobile at an excessive and dangerous rate of speed, in violation of the statutes of the State of Georgia; that the said Cabaniss A. Bryan was negligent in not keeping the said Plymouth automobile under contro], so as to have enabled him to guide the same safely to the extreme right side of the highway, thereby avoiding the collision and negligent act of the defendant Sylvan M. Byck in trying to pass the T. Model Ford automobile of Charlie Butts. . . (i) The said Cabaniss A. Bryan was guilty of gross negligence in failing to detect the presence of said automobile in time to prevent the collision, thus injuring and damaging petitioner as above set forth, (j) The negligent acts of all the defendants above enumerated was the approximate cause of the collision, which injured and damaged petitioner in the full sum sued for herein.” Also, that there was ample room on said highway to pass to the left of the Model T. Ford automobile of Butts and to the left of the center of the highway, and for the meeting and passing of both the Chevrolet and Plymouth automobiles safely; and if the defendants had been in the exercise of ordinary care and diligence and had not been driving said automobiles at a reckless and dangerous rate of speed, they could have passed on said highway.

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Moore v. Bryan, 183 S.E. 117, 52 Ga. App. 272, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 137 (Ga. Ct. App. 1935).

183 S.E. 117 (Moore v. Bryan) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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