Pellegrin v. Hebert

107 So. 2d 853, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 731
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 5, 1959
DocketNo. 4713
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 107 So. 2d 853 (Pellegrin v. Hebert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pellegrin v. Hebert, 107 So. 2d 853, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 731 (La. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

ELLIS, Judge.

This appeal presents for determination.a factual question arising out of an automobile accident which occurred in the Parish of Terrebonne on May 20, 1955.

The petition of the plaintiff, Royal J. Pellegrin, sets forth that just before the accident his 1953 Ford automobile was being driven in a southerly direction on the Point au Chien road in Terrebonne Parish at approximately nine miles from its intersection with the Houma-Montegut highway by his employee, Miss Lela Marie Savoie, in the latter’s proper lane of travel at a speed of fifteen to twenty miles per hour. At about 11:30 a. m., it is alleged, as Miss Savoie entered a curve to her right, the defendant, Nelo J. Hebert, who was proceeding in a northerly direction in his 1954 Chrysler, entered the curve in his left lane of travel and suddenly confronted Miss Savoie. It is further averred that as soon as Miss Savoie was confronted with the emergency she attempted to turn to her left to avoid a collision but was unable to do so in time with the result that the right front end of the defendant’s vehicle collided with the right front end of that of the plaintiff. The prayer is for the sum of $541 for physical damages to the Ford automobile, $104 for replacing the vehicle while being repaired, and $200 for loss to the plaintiff occasioned by his having to personally perform the duties of his employee Miss Savoie during the period that she was incapacitated.

The defendant’s answer denies any negligence on his part and avers that the collision occurred in his own lane of travel after he had brought his car to a stop. Assuming the position of plaintiff in recon-vention, he prayed for the sum of $1,100 as the amount lost by him as the result of the damages to his automobile. Alternatively, he pleaded as a defense contributory negligence on the part of Miss Savoie.

A companion suit was filed by Miss Savoie seeking $20,486.65 for the physical damages sustained by her. The Travelers Indemnity Company, workmen’s compensation insurer of Pellegrin, intervened in this suit seeking the sum of $314.13 representing compensation benefits, doctor and hospital bills paid by it to or on behalf of Miss Savoie as the result of the accident.

The suits were consolidated for trial in the Court below following which judgment was rendered in favor of Pellegrin in the sum of $541, in favor of Miss Savoie in the sum of $3,470.50 and in favor of Travelers in the sum of $314.13. Following the taking of appeals by the defendant, Pelle-grin and Miss Savoie answered the appeals asking that their awards be increased [855]*855to the amounts originally prayed for. Travelers likewise answered the appeal asking that the amount awarded in its favor be affirmed.

The trial judge, in his written reasons for judgment, resolved the question of liability as follows:

“The place of the accident was approximately one mile above the Hebert store at the end of the Point au Chien Road. It is pictured, generally speaking, in photographs D-l, D-2 and D-3.
“As the Pellegrin automobile was approaching the scene of the accident, it approached a curve to its right. The road is shelled and approximately eighteen (18) or nineteen (19) feet wide. The width of the road is testified to by both Mr. Pellegrin and State Trooper Waguespack. There was an almost full head-on collision. The right three-quarters of the front end of the two vehicles collided. The left front headlight of each vehicle was unbroken (See D-l artd D-6). There was a dispute concerning the portion of the road on which the collision occurred. One or both of the vehicles were out of their proper lane of traffic. Generally speaking, some of the witnesses appeared to be bitterly opposed to the parties against whom they appeared as witnesses.
“The Court gathers the following facts from the witnesses:
“Miss Savoie was traveling at a speed of between twenty-five (25) and (30) miles per hour (see Tr. p. 22). George Ellender (Tr. p. 50) and Mrs. Clarence Naquin (Tr. p. 56) estimated the same speed.
“Mr. Hebert states that he was traveling fifteen (15) miles per hour (Tr. p. 2). Chiasson, an occupant of the Hebert car, states that Mr. Hebert was traveling between twenty-five (25) and thirty (30) miles per hour (Tr. p. 37). There is other testimony in the record that Mr. Hebert 'was traveling faster than fifteen (15) miles per hour, though at a moderate rate of speed.
“George Ellender, (Tr. p. 50) and Mrs. Clarence Naquin (Tr. p. 56) were standing from one hundred fifty (150) to two hundred (200) feet above the place of the collision at a shrimp plant of a Mr. Billiot. They each testified that they knew and recognized Miss Savoie as she passed and that she was traveling in her own proper lane- of traffic.
“Two hundred feet below the location of the accident, where Mrs. Du-pre lives, she states on page 42 of the testimony in regard to Mr. Hebert: He was on the left side. I thought he was going to put down my mail box when he passed in front’. She then explained that this put Hebert on the wrong side of the road. She does not drive a car, but she also estimated his speed at twenty-five (25) to thirty (30) miles an hour.
“A Mr. Sidney Robicaux, a passenger in the Hebert automobile, also placed the Hebert vehicle on the extreme left side of the road. We bear in mind that Mr. Robichaux filed a damage suit against Mr. Hebert.
“Witnesses for the defendant, who lived and were on the opposite side of the bayou, testified that Mr. Hebert was on his right side of the road at about the same place that Mrs. Dupre stated that he was on the wrong side of the road. The view of the roadway from the porch or the house across the bayou, in the opinion of the Court, is not as clear as the roadway was or is from the Dupre house, which is approximately forty (40) feet from the road, with an unobstructed view for at least a short distance.
“The two colliding vehicles stayed on the roadway until the State Trooper arrived. Mr. Hebert was particularly [856]*856careful that nothing be disturbed or moved until the State Trooper arrived. We believe that it is safe to assume that neither of the vehicles was moved before the pictures were taken.
“Mr. Hebert testified on transcript page 3:
“ 'Q. Did you cut over to the left at anytime before the accident?
“ ‘A. No.’ and he further stated on transcript page 5:
“ ‘A. What I did ? I throwed in my brakes, and I said “let the hair go with the skin” to myself and she run right into me. She run her right fender right into my right fender, and when she hit me. I was on a dead stop. I I didn’t back; I didn’t advance, but she threw me to the left to the west side to the middle of the road.’
“He then stated on the same transcript page 5 in reference to the Pelle-grin car:
“ ‘Her car backed up I would say around twenty feet right back. When she hit she bounced back and she bounced back to the left hand side of the road going down dose to the bayou.’
“According to Officer Waguespack, the automobiles were no more than five (5) or six (6) feet apart when he arrived at the scene of the accident.

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Bluebook (online)
107 So. 2d 853, 1959 La. App. LEXIS 731, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pellegrin-v-hebert-lactapp-1959.