Mullen v. St. Louis Public Service Co.

380 S.W.2d 950, 1964 Mo. App. LEXIS 607
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 21, 1964
DocketNo. 31475
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 380 S.W.2d 950 (Mullen v. St. Louis Public Service Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mullen v. St. Louis Public Service Co., 380 S.W.2d 950, 1964 Mo. App. LEXIS 607 (Mo. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

FRANK D. CONNETT, Jr., Special Judge.

This is an appeal from the trial of a suit for damages for a personal injury suffered by plaintiff while a passenger on defendant St. Louis Public Service Company’s streetcar in St. Louis City. Plaintiff, a woman eighty-one years of age, and others boarded the defendant’s streetcar at a stop just west of Grand Avenue on the south side of Olive Street. The streetcar, operated by Chester A. Daugherty, was headed east and after the passengers had boarded, but before plaintiff was seated, the streetcar started up and attained a speed of ten to fifteen miles per hour. A driveway leading from a parking lot was about 140 feet east of Grand Avenue, on the north side of Olive Street. One, Charles Lofton, drove an automobile from this driveway and in making a right turn to travel west nearly collided with defendant’s streetcar. Defendant’s operator made an emergency stop which caused plaintiff to fall and injure her back.

The plaintiff’s theory of recovery was that defendant’s operator failed to keep a lookout and that this failure was negligence and because of this failure the operator did not observe the Lofton car until too late to warn him, or to make a slow stop. Therefore, he made a sudden stop and caused plaintiff to fall. This theory is evidently grounded upon the case of Oblamski v. St. Louis Public Service Company, Mo.App., 251 S.W.2d 344, where it is stated at page 346:

“In the case at bar it was the duty of the operator of the bus approaching [952]*95214th and Clark Avenue, when he saw or could have seen the automobile approaching the intersection from the left at a right angle, and knew or should have known that the two vehicles were converging, to take cautionary steps to avoid injury to his passengers. It was his duty to issue a warning to alert the oblivious driver of the automobile, or to so regulate and reduce the speed of the bus that it could be decelerated or stopped gradually and with safety to the passengers if -danger of collision with the automobile should thereafter arise.”

The trial was held before the Honorable J. Casey Walsh, Judge of the Circuit Court in the City of St. Louis. Plaintiff received a verdict from the jury in the amount of $10,000.00. Judgment was granted. Defendant, St. Louis Public Service Company appeals.

The first allegation of error is that the trial court should have sustained its motion for a directed verdict filed at the close of all of the evidence because plaintiff failed to submit substantial evidence that the operator of defendant’s streetcar could have or would have avoided bringing its streetcar to a sudden stop had the operator kept a different lookout, or that the keeping of a lookout would have avoided the injury.

The evidence was that defendant’s operator saw the Lofton car as it came out of the driveway. The evidence is not clear whether defendant’s operator continuously observed the Lofton car up to the time of the sudden stop. However, the jury could have found from the evidence submitted that defendant’s operator first saw the Lofton car 115 feet away, and that the streetcar was traveling 15 miles per hour (22 feet per second) ; that nothing obstructed his view and that the Lofton car was approaching slowly (no more than 3 miles per hour) on a converging course; that this situation existed for three seconds, long enough for the streetcar to travel 65 feet; that suddenly 45 to 50 feet from the driveway, defendant’s operator apprehended the danger of a collision and made a sudden emergency stop. From this set of facts the jury reasonably could have inferred that defendant’s operator did not keep a proper lookout and that if he had, he would have become aware of the danger of a collision sooner, and he would have had time to avoid the sudden stop by sounding a warning bell or slowing down gradually.

Plaintiff’s verdict directing instruction No. 1 was as follows:

“The Court instructs the jury that it was the duty of the operator of the streetcar to exercise the highest degree of care in operating same for the safety of the passengers riding therein.
“In this connection, you are instructed that if you find and believe from the evidence that on the occasion in question, the plaintiff was a paying passenger on the eastbound streetcar described in evidence which was operated by an employe of defendant St. Louis Public Service Company; and if you further find that while plaintiff was walking toward the rear to find a seat said streetcar was moving eastwardly and downgrade in the 3500 block of Olive Street at approximately 15 miles per hour; and if you further find that when the front end of the streetcar was approximately 25 feet east of the east curbline of Grand Avenue, Mr. Lofton was starting to drive an automobile southwardly from the parking lot described in evidence onto Olive Street; and if you further find that at said time and while the streetcar continued to move eastwardly on Olive Street, the operator thereof failed to exercise the highest degree of care to keep and maintain a careful watch and lookout ahead and laterally; and if you further find that in so failing, the operator failed to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of his passengers and was negligent; and if you further find that as a direct result of such negli[953]*953gence, if you so find, the operator failed to observe the automobile as it was being driven by Mr. Lofton southwardly from said parking lot onto Olive Street, failed to sound a warning of the approach of said streetcar, and failed to reduce the speed of said streetcar until said automobile was in close proximity to the path of said streetcar; and if you further find that at said time the operator then caused the speed of said streetcar to be retarded suddenly and as a direct result thereof plaintiff was caused to fall backward to the floor of said streetcar and was injured, then your verdict should be in favor of the plaintiff, Margaret Mullen, and against the defendant, St. Louis Public Service Co.”

Appellant complains that this instruction is prejudicial for a number of reasons:

(A) That there was no substantial evidence submitted to support the instruction. The above outline of the evidence refutes ■this charge.

(B) A portion of plaintiff’s verdict directing instruction reads as follows:

“ * * * and if you further find that * * * the operator thereof failed to exercise the highest degree of care to keep and maintain a careful watch and lookout ahead and laterally; and if you further find that in so failing, the operator failed to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of his passengers and wa-s negligent; * * *.”

Appellant contends that the underlined portions thereof improperly assume that defendant’s operator failed to keep a ■proper lookout and that defendant was negligent. We do not so read the instruction.

(C) The instruction required the jury to •find:

“ * * * that when the front end of the streetcar was approximately 25 feet east of the east curbline of Grand Avenue, Mr. Lofton was starting to drive an automobile southwardly from the parking lot described in evidence onto Olive Street.”

Appellant contends that there was no substantial evidence from which the jury could have found this fact. On page 42 of this transcript the following testimony from Chester A. Daugherty, the opeartor of defendant’s streetcar appears:

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Related

Schneider v. Bi-State Development Agency
447 S.W.2d 788 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1969)
Mullen v. St. Louis Public Service Co.
389 S.W.2d 838 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
380 S.W.2d 950, 1964 Mo. App. LEXIS 607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mullen-v-st-louis-public-service-co-moctapp-1964.