Moore v. Bryan

183 S.E. 117, 52 Ga. App. 272, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 137
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedDecember 16, 1935
Docket24937
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 183 S.E. 117 (Moore v. Bryan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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

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]*274Bryan 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]*275highway 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.

The plaintiff offered an amendment to his petition, in which he alleged that Bryan was negligent in driving his Plymouth automobile on a dark night at such dangerous and excessive rate of speed, about 70 miles an hour, in violation of the State law, and in not seeing the approaching automobile driven by Byck, which was on the wrong side of the highway, in time to avoid the collision, which lie could have done by the exercise of ordinary care and diligence, [276]*276the roacl being straight and without obstructions at this point; that the plaintiff at the time protested to Bryan about his speed, “and remonstrated with him that it was dangerous to approach said automobile at said rate of speed; the defendant, Cabaniss A. Bryan, ignoring petitioner’s protest, driving head-on info the automobile of the said Sylvan M. Byck,

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

Related

Harden v. Clarke
179 S.E.2d 667 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1970)
Manees v. Scicchitano
178 S.E.2d 262 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1970)
Thompson v. Dempsey
172 S.E.2d 198 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1969)
Young v. Reese
166 S.E.2d 420 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1969)
Brissette v. Munday
153 S.E.2d 606 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1967)
Austin v. Smith
101 S.E.2d 169 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1957)
Chadwick v. Stewart
94 S.E.2d 502 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1956)
Fletcher v. Abbott
88 S.E.2d 445 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1955)
Stapleton v. Stapleton
74 S.E.2d 116 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1953)
Kimberly v. Reed
53 S.E.2d 208 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1949)
Graham v. Phinizy
51 S.E.2d 451 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1949)
Hennon v. Hardin
50 S.E.2d 236 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1948)
Olins v. Schockett
215 S.W.2d 18 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 1948)
Monroe Motor Express v. Jackson
38 S.E.2d 863 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1946)
Laplante v. Rousseau
18 A.2d 777 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1941)
Simmons v. Beatty
195 S.E. 289 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1938)
Dixon v. Merry Bros. Brick & Tile Co.
193 S.E. 599 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1937)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
183 S.E. 117, 52 Ga. App. 272, 1935 Ga. App. LEXIS 137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-bryan-gactapp-1935.