Robinson v. Great American Indemnity Co.

120 So. 2d 855, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 983
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 23, 1960
DocketNo. 9166
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 120 So. 2d 855 (Robinson v. Great American Indemnity Co.) 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
Robinson v. Great American Indemnity Co., 120 So. 2d 855, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 983 (La. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

AYRES, Judge.

This is an action in tort arising out of a motor vehicle collision of April 26, 1958, at the intersection of Seventeenth Street and Ashley Avenue in the City of Alexandria. Involved were a Chevrolet automobile owned and driven by plaintiff and a Buick automobile owned and driven by Alva Hays. Made defendants are Hays and his public liability insurer.

Traffic on Seventeenth Street has a superior right of way over traffic on Ashley Avenue, which is noted by the presence of stop signs appropriately posted on Ashley Avenue adjacent to the intersection. Plaintiff was' proceeding on Seventeenth Street in a northerly direction, defendant Hays westerly on Ashley Avenue.

Negligence charged to Hays consists of his failure to accord plaintiff’s vehicle its superior right of way, or to stop at the intersection before his entry therein, or to keep his automobile under control, or to maintain a proper lookout, and in driving at an excessive rate of speed. Similar acts of negligence, particularly that plaintiff failed to accord defendant Hays his right of way by virtue of his prior entry and preemption of the intersection were charged to plaintiff as constituting the sole and proximate cause of the accident or, in the alternative, a contributing cause thereof.

[857]*857Hays’ negligence by proceeding into the intersection without stopping, and without •seeing plaintiff’s car approaching on the right-of-way street, was found by the trial ■court to constitute the sole, proximate cause ■of the accident. Accordingly, plaintiff was ■awarded damages for personal injuries in the sum of $750, for destruction of his automobile $200, and, for hospital and medical ■expenses, $131.26.

From the judgment thus rendered and ■signed, plaintiff has appealed, contending that the award was inadequate and that the ■court further erred in rejecting his demands for loss of wages. The defendants, •answering the appeal, placed at issue their plea of contributory negligence and, in the alternative, denied that the award was inadequate and asserted, in said alternative, that the award was sufficient and should be approved. The issues for determination relate to the questions presented under defendants’ plea of contributory negligence ■and, finally, the sufficiency of the award of •damages.

The facts material to the issues presented for resolution may be briefly stated. Plaintiff testified that, as he approached the aforesaid intersection at a speed approximately 25 to 30 miles per hour, he saw, when a car length from the intersection, the automobile of the defendant, Hays, on Ashley Avenue, four or five car lengths distant from the intersection; that, after observing defendant’s vehicle, his attention was directed to children immediately beyond the intersection, but to his left, in Seventeenth Street. Some were riding bicycles in circles in the street, others were standing on the curb. While entering the intersection, plaintiff’s companion exclaimed a warning, whereupon plaintiff looked to his right and saw defendant’s vehicle only momentarily before it struck the right side of his car. Hays admitted that, as he approached the intersection, he did not stop, but claimed to have reduced his speed to approximately 10 miles per hour, and, after looking both ways and seeing no approaching traffic, he proceeded into the intersection whereupon, after reaching a point near the middle, the left side of his automobile was struck by the front of plaintiff’s car.

An irreconcilable conflict exists between plaintiff’s and defendant’s versions as to the occurrence of the accident, particularly as to which vehicle struck the other. Photographs introduced in evidence, however, disclosed that plaintiff’s car was struck on its right side and that it sustained no damage whatever to its front. The weight of the evidence, therefore, sustains plaintiff’s position in that his vehicle had reached a point slightly beyond the center of the intersection when it was struck by defendant’s automobile. Thus, the evidence establishes defendant’s negligence, as indeed defendants concede by their pleadings whereby, in answer to plaintiff’s appeal, the question of liability is restricted and limited to the question of plaintiff’s contributory negligence.

Defendants’ contention that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence, constituting a proximate cause of the accident, is predicated upon plaintiff’s admission that he was slightly exceeding the speed limit, as fixed by ordinance of the City of Alexandria at 25 miles per hour. By his own testimony and that of other witnesses, plaintiff’s speed was estimated between 25 and 30 miles per hour. The position taken by defendant is that, in any intersectional collision, excessive speed of one of the vehicles is always a proximate cause for the reason, it is claimed, had plaintiff been going at a lesser speed, defendant could have made it through the intersection and there would have been no accident. This reasoning is illogical and unsound for, by the same process, it may be concluded that, had plaintiff been proceeding at a much greater rate of speed, and his violation magnified, his negotiation of the intersection would have been completed before defendant’s arrival and there still would have been no accident. Therefore, it is obvious that plaintiff’s action in slightly exceeding the speed [858]*858limit was not a contributing factor to the occurrence of the accident.

If it could be said plaintiff’s speed constituted negligence, no liability resulted therefrom because it did not constitute a proximate cause of the accident. The proximate cause of the accident was defendant’s disregard of plaintiff’s superior right of way and his failure to stop before entering the intersection, or to make proper observation as to traffic having a superior right in or approaching the intersection. At the most, plaintiff’s action could only constitute a very remote cause. In this connection, we had occasion to say, in Cone v. Smith et al., La.App., 76 So.2d 46, 49:

“Negligence alone in the operation of a motor vehicle does not give rise to a cause of action; in order to be actionable the negligence must result in injury or damage and then liability may only be imposed if such negligence is the, or a, proximate cause of the injury; that is to say — the injury must be the natural and probable consequence of a negligent act or omission, which an ordinarily prudent man ought reasonably to have foreseen might probably result in injury. See: 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, §§ 251, 252; Railway Express Agency v. Knebel, Tex.Civ.App., 226 S.W.2d 922; Spratling v. Butler, 150 Tex. 369, 240 S.W.2d 1016; Knops v. Ordorica, Tex.Civ.App., 242 S.W.2d 454.
“That Smith drove at a great, excessive and reckless rate of speed, which speed was in excess of fifty-five miles per hour, contrary to law, is subject to the requirements of law above stated and the factor of speed in order to create liability must not only cause the injury but must be a proximate cause of the injury. It is admitted that Smith was traveling at a speed of from eighty-five to ninety miles per hour when he first observed the approaching Robinson vehicle. After weighing every implication of this fact we still must find that the conduct of Robinson was the sole cause of the collision and' the speed of the Smith vehicle was not a contributing factor.”

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

Related

Perkins v. Texas & New Orleans Railroad
137 So. 2d 673 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1962)
Deshotels v. United States Fire Insurance Company
132 So. 2d 504 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1961)
Warner v. Insurance Co. of State of Pennsylvania
129 So. 2d 320 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
120 So. 2d 855, 1960 La. App. LEXIS 983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-great-american-indemnity-co-lactapp-1960.