Newkirk v. Kovanda

165 N.W.2d 576, 184 Neb. 127, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 503
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 7, 1969
Docket36942
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 165 N.W.2d 576 (Newkirk v. Kovanda) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Newkirk v. Kovanda, 165 N.W.2d 576, 184 Neb. 127, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 503 (Neb. 1969).

Opinions

White, C. J.

This is a personal injury automobile accident case. A Chevrolet automobile, in which the plaintiff was a passenger, struck the rear end of a Dodge automobile. While the plaintiff was still sitting in the Chevrolet about 5 to 10 minutes later, the defendants’ Ford struck the tail end of the Chevrolet. Plaintiff sued the operator and the owner of the Ford, and after a jury verdict and a judgment for the defendants, the plaintiff has appealed. [128]*128Plaintiff complains that the trial court was in error: In denying her motion for a proper instruction that the defendant operator of the Ford negligently caused the second collision, and (2) in refusing her tender of an instruction relating to indivisible injury produced by separate, independent acts.

Plaintiff was a passenger in the Chevrolet traveling east on O Street toward the intersection with Lyncrest Drive, Lincoln, Nebraska, near noon, December 1, 1966. Leaving slushy traffic lanes, the Chevrolet entered a left-turn lane that extended 350 feet to Lyncrest Drive. This lane sloped steeply to the east and was icy andl slippery. While the Chevrolet was approaching the intersection, a Dodge Dart was waiting at the east end of the lane for a traffic control signal to change. Timely anticipating a collision, plaintiff braced herself with hands on the dash and feet against the floor. The car in which plaintiff was riding collided with the rear end of the Dodge Dart and stopped. According to plaintiffs testimony she did not bump or hit anything from movement of her body in the car and in her own opinion she was not hurt by this first collision or accident. The impact drove the Dodge Dart into the intersection. It came to rest 20 feet east of the Chevrolet, which remained west of the intersection. From this accident, the, rear bumper and trunk lid of the Dodge, and the front grille, hood, bumper, and headlight of the Chevrolet were damaged.

Five or ten minutes later the plaintiff was still sitting in the Chevrolet when Chris Kovanda, hereinafter referred to as defendant, approached from the rear in a Ford Mustang. Unaware of the previous' collision, he stopped a few feet behind the Chevrolet. The evidence shows that defendant was driving on streets that he knew to be icy and slippery and in broad daylight. It conclusively shows that he saw and observed the automobile in which plaintiff was sitting for a considerable period of time before the collision occurred. It shows that he stopped some distance, a few inches or 2 to 3 [129]*129feet behind the automobile in which plaintiff was sitting. His own testimony is that he decided “to get out of there”; that he put his car in reverse; that his foot was on the accelerator; and that in the performance of this operation, his car went forward and collided with the rear end of the car in which plaintiff was sitting as a passenger. The defendant’s own version of how this occurred was that 'his rear wheels turned backwards and! his front wheels slid forward. After the accident the bumpers of the two automobiles remained in contact. The damage to the Chevrolet in which the plaintiff was sitting was slight but significant. The bumper was damaged and beneath the bumper the gravel guard or shield had dents in it. In Doleman v. Burandt, 160 Neb. 745, 71 N. W. 2d 521, the plaintiff’s automobile had already collided with a third automobile during a snow storm when the defendant, coming from the rear in the snow storm, on icy pavement, ran into the rear of the plaintiff’s automobile. This court, in that case, held that the first collision could not in any way have been a proximate cause of the second one, and held that the defendant, by running into the rear of a stopped car was guilty of negligence as a matter of law. This court said: “The defendant, by his own testimony, is guilty of negligence as a matter of law. In Buresh v. George, 149 Neb. 340, 31 N. W. 2d 106, it was held: * * a driver of an automobile is legally obligated to keep such a lookout that he can see what is plainly visible before him and that he cannot relieve himself of that duty. And, in conjunction therewith, he must so drive his automobile that when he sees the object he can stop the automobile in time to avoid it.’ ”

This court very recently affirmed this holding and its application to facts substantially similar to those present in the case at bar. In Ritchie v. Davidson, 183 Neb. 94, 158 N. W. 2d 275 (April 19, 1968), this court held a driver who, in broad daylight, ran into an automobile parked at a stop sign, was guilty of negligence as a mat[130]*130ter of law. Therein we held as follows: “Consequently, resolving all inferences in favor of the defendant, we hold that the defendant was guilty of negligence as a matter of law under the circumstances of this case.

“We further hold that her negligence was the sole proximate cause of this accident. In Stanley v. Ebmeier, 166 Neb. 716, 90 N. W. 2d 290, we said: ‘ “It is a general rule, subject to exceptions not applicable to this case that it is negligence as a matter of law for a motorist to drive an automobile on a public highway, at any time, at a speed or in such manner that it cannot be stopped or its course changed in time to avoid a collision with an object or obstruction discernible within his range of vision, in the direction he is traveling: * * * The basis of the foregoing general rule is that the driver of an automobile is legally and mandatorily obligated to keep such a lookout that he can see what is plainly visible before him and to operate his automobile in such a manner that he can stop it and avoid collision with any object in front of him.” ’ ”

As is plainly apparent from the reading of the above cases, we are not dealing in this case with a situation where there is any possibility of the application of any of the exceptions to the rule. The undisputed evidence is that it was broad daylight, that the automobile in which the plaintiff was sitting was in plain sight, and that, in fact, the defendant had already stopped behind it. The facts here are undisputed. We know of no rule that would permit a holding that because the defendant’s degree of inadvertence was small, that it would be, therefore, nonnegligent. The only inference that can be drawn from the evidence is that the defendant so managed and operated his automobile as to drive into the rear end of a vehicle ahead of him in plain sight and plainly visible to him.

Nor can there be any relief from liability because of the icy and slippery condition of the street. It should be pointed out that it was this very condition and the de[131]*131fendant’s inability or inadvertence in managing and controlling his automobile, when he knew the icy condition was present, which was the proximate cause of this accident. We have held within the' meaning of the applicable rule involved here that ice or snow upon a highway is not considered an independent, intervening factor that relieves a motor vehicle operator from the responsibility for the results of his negligence in the operation and control of his automobile. Barney v. Adcock, 162 Neb. 179, 75 N. W. 2d 683; Doleman v. Burandt, supra; Murray v. Pearson Appliance Store, 155 Neb. 860, 54 N. W. 2d 250; Anderson v. Byrd, 133 Neb. 483, 275 N. W. 825. In Kuffel v. Kuncl, 181 Neb. 770, 150 N. W. 2d 908, this court said: “At least where the presence of frost, ice, snow, mist, fog, or smoke were known, or should have been reasonably anticipated, they have consistently been held (under our cases) to be conditions rather than intervening or proximate causes in the legal sense.”

In Guynan v. Olson, 178 Neb.

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Newkirk v. Kovanda
165 N.W.2d 576 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1969)

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Bluebook (online)
165 N.W.2d 576, 184 Neb. 127, 1969 Neb. LEXIS 503, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/newkirk-v-kovanda-neb-1969.