Sexton v. Stiles

130 So. 821, 15 La. App. 148, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 656
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 1930
DocketNo. 3807
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 130 So. 821 (Sexton v. Stiles) 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
Sexton v. Stiles, 130 So. 821, 15 La. App. 148, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 656 (La. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

DREW, J.

Plaintiff instituted this suit, alleging that approximately two and one-half miles west of Homer, Claiborne parish, Louisiana, on what is known as the Homer Oil Fields Road, said road goes up the rise of one hill, down the other side, and up another hill; that at approximately 6:45 p. m. on November 11, 1928, a light truck loaded with hay belonging to defendant J. -E. Stiles, was left parked in the approximate center of said road, the truck facing towards the oil fields approximately thirty or forty feet up the rise of the second hill; that one layer of hay was placed in the bed of the truck, and between the first layer of hay and the remainder of the hay in the truck three skinned wooden poles had been loaded, the poles projecting from the rear of the truck approximately six or seven feet in the direction of Ho-i mer, and that one of the poles projecting six or seven feet had worked around so that it projected at an angle of some thirty or forty degrees from the bed of the truck to the left of the rear of said truck, the end of the pole projecting out into the approximate center of the path of any car seeking to pass the truck.

He further alleges that at 6:45 p. m. on November 11, 1928, it was good dark and that said truck had no lights, either front or rear, nor did it have any danger signal of any character whatsoever on the truck or poles, nor was the truck equipped with either front or rear lights.

He further alleges that said truck had been operated by and was in charge of a negro employee by the name of Dennis Richardson, in the employ of J. E. Stiles, who, at the time of the accident, was engaged within the scope of this employment, and that said truck was left unattended in the approximate center of the said road, without any danger signals of any kind whatsoever, designed or intended to notify any person traveling said road of the dangerous character of said obstruction.

He further alleges that at approximately 6:45 p. m. on that day he, the plaintiff, in a Pontiac sedan, was traveling at a moderate rate of speed, operating same in a careful and prudent manner, observing all the rules of traffic, upon the road above described, from Homer, Louisiana, to the Homer Oil Fields, west of said town; that it was dark at the time, and plaintiff had put on his lights on his car [150]*150prior to reaching Homer and had the lights on his car burning at the time he reached the location of the parked truck; that in descending the hill situated just to the rear of the location of said truck the truck was not visible to plaintiff and only became visible as he reached the bottom of' said hill and began to take the rise of the hill upon the side of which the truck was parked, and that the truck became visible to plaintiff only when his car was approximately twenty feet from the rear of said truck; and that in order to-avoid running directly into the rear of the truck he swerved his car to the left, to pass the truck on the left side, and would have passed the truck without a collision had it not been for the ¡pole heretofore described projecting in an angular direction from the rear of said truck, directly in his path. That the pole was a white wood, freshly skinned pole, and was not visible to plaintiff as he approached the truck.

The car of petitioner came in contact with the end of said pole, the pole entering the car through the right side of the windshield, striking petitioner on the right side of the lower jaw, tearing away his lower jaw and going through and projecting beyond the left door of his car.

He alleges that he was in no way responsible for the collision or the injuries received by him, and that the same were caused solely by the negligence of defendant, through his employee, in placing the dangerous obstruction in the road.

Plaintiff then alleges the damages he sustained by reason of the accident, itemizing them as follows:

Disfigurement and personal injury to face and body________________$30,000.00
Pain and suffering____________________________ 25,000.00
Doctors’ bills ...................................... 915.00
Nurses’ bills ........................................ 188.25
Hospital expenses ............................ 792.25
Traveling expenses to and from hospital ............................................ 200.00
Cost of repairs to automobile........ " 30.00
Loss of one-half of 8 months’ earnings ............................................ 563.00
Loss of 12 months’ earnings (estimated) —.......................................... 1,959.00
Hospital bills, nurses’ bills, doctors’ bills, and expenses incident to necessary operations yet to be performed (estimated).... 2,500.00
Total .................................................$62,147.50

He prays for a trial by jury, alleges that the defendant, J. E. Stiles, .should be made to repair the damages, and prays for judgment against him in the amount set forth above by items.

Defendant filed an exception of no cause of action, which was overruled by the lower court, and it is not urged here.

Defendant answered, denying the principal allegations of plaintiff’s petition. He admits that there are small hills at the point described by plaintiff. He alleges that at about 4 o’clock p. m., on November 11, 1928, one of his trucks, loaded with hay and then being operated by a competent and careful driver, stopped at about the lowest point between the hills described when, through no fault of defendant or his employee, the universal joint of the truck was broken; that the truck could not be operated in its then condition, and the driver, acting prudently, placed the truck as near the outside of the road as possible, and started immediately on foot to a camp of defendant, where defendant kept mule teams, located about a mile and -a half distant from [151]*151where he left the truck, to secure a team of mules to remove the truck and hay; and that because the accident occurred on a holiday defendant’s employees usually at the camp were absent, and defendant’s driver was unexpectedly and unavoidably delayed in securing a team and returning to the truck, reaching it just prior to or about dark.

Defendant admits that the poles had been loaded as described, but specially denies that they projected from six to seven feet from the rear of the truck; he denies that the truck was not equipped with lights; and alleges that under the circumstances described, it was unnecessary and inadvisable to have left the lights of the truck burning when his employee started out for assistance, and that the delay in his return was unavoidable.

Defendant denies that the situation of the small hills described could have in any way obstructed plaintiff’s view and shows that if plaintiff did not see the truck long before reaching it, the cause was his own fault or negligence. He alleges that the front of plaintiff’s car actually collided with the rear of the truck. He admits that the poles were white and freshly peeled. He alleges , that plaintiff’s car was run practically full into the rear of defendant’s truck and alleges that the sole cause of the accident was the .negligence of plaintiff in the following particulars:

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Bluebook (online)
130 So. 821, 15 La. App. 148, 1930 La. App. LEXIS 656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sexton-v-stiles-lactapp-1930.