Snyder v. Jones

392 S.W.2d 504
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 2, 1965
Docket101
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 392 S.W.2d 504 (Snyder v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snyder v. Jones, 392 S.W.2d 504 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

NYE, Justice.

This is a summary judgment case. Dierdre Snyder, a minor, sustained personal injuries when an automobile in which she was riding as a guest was involved in a one-car upset. The appellant, the father of Dierdre Snyder, individually and as next friend for his daughter, brought suit for damages, and alleged gross negligence on the part of the appellee, the owner of the car, in entrusting a known defective automobile to his daughter Diana Jones, a minor who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and entered judgment that plaintiff take nothing by his suit. From this judgment appellant has perfected his appeal.

The appellant has predicated his appeal on only one point, contending that the trial court erred in sustaining defendant’s motion for summary judgment, thereby rejecting appellant’s contention claimed to be supported by pleadings, affidavits and depositions that the entrustment by appellee to his minor daughter of a motor vehicle known by the appellee to have been in a defective condition was gross negligence and the proximate cause of Dierdre Snyder’s injuries.

The provisions of the “Texas Guest Statutes” provide that a guest will have no action for injuries or loss against an automobile owner or operator unless an accident “ * * * shall have been intentional on the part of said owner or operator, or caused by his heedlessness or his reckless disregard of the rights of others. * * * ” Art. 6701b Texas Ann.Rev.Civ.St. This has the same meaning as the term “gross negligence.” Schiller v. Rice, 151 Tex. 116, 246 S.W.2d 607; Rowan v. Allen, 1940, 134 Tex. 215, 134 S.W.2d 1022.

*506 The trial court that hears the motion for summary judgment must determine if there are any issues of fact to be tried and is to accept as true all evidence of the party opposing the motion for summary judgment, which tends to support such party’s contention and to give him the benefit of every reasonable inference which can be drawn in favor of his position. Cowden v. Bell, 157 Tex. 44, 300 S.W.2d 286 (1957); Valley Stockyards Co. v. Kinsel, 369 S.W.2d 19, Sup.Ct.1963. All doubts as to existence of genuine issue of the material facts must be resolved against the party moving for a summary judgment. Gulbenkian v. Penn, 151 Tex. 412, 252 S.W. 2d 929 (1952).

The trial court heard the motion for summary judgment on March 6, 1964. The trial judge asked for briefs and on March 13, 1964, announced that he had granted defendant’s (appellee’s) motion for summary judgment. Before entry of written judgment, plaintiff (appellant) moved for permission to file an affidavit of Henry Snyder, dated March 17th, and for the court to set aside its previous ruling. The Court, on April 4th, allowed the affidavit of Snyder to be filed and then allowed defendant (appellee) to take Snyder’s deposition and ruled that no other evidence would be received. On April 20th, the date of the hearing, after one postponement at request of plaintiff, the plaintiff tendered for filing an additional affidavit * * * that of Dierdre Snyder. The trial court refused to allow the filing of such affidavit, to which plaintiff excepted. The trial court then again sustained defendant’s motion for summary judgment and entered its order to that effect. Appellant does not bring forward this assignment of error concerning the failure to grant leave to file Dierdre’s late affidavit and, therefore, it is waived. Rule 374 and Rule 418, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Stroud v. Jones, Tex.Civ.App., 295 S.W.2d 491, ref., n. r. e. (1956). The rule on summary judgments requires that the moving party give the opposition ten-day notice of the hearing. The adverse party is allowed up until the day before the hearing to serve opposing affidavits. Rule 166a, T.R.C.P. Here, the time had passed. The trial court had allowed one late affidavit and refused a still later one. This was not an abuse of discretion. Jones v. Hubbard, Tex.Civ.App., 302 S.W.2d 493 (1957 ref., n. r. e.). We have, however, reviewed Dierdre’s testimony, and we do not find any material conflict in the two girls’ versions of the happening of the accident that would affect the outcome of this case.

Appellee owned a 1960 Chevrolet which was some nine months old at the time of the accident and had been driven a little more than 26,000 miles. He loaned the vehicle to his daughter Diana one Sunday afternoon in April of 1961. She picked up her friend Dierdre for the purpose of riding around and to visit a cousin. Neither girl could recall exactly what happened that caused the accident. However, from the deposition and affidavits received by the trial court, the facts viewed most favorably to the appellant, were these:

Diana Jones, the driver, was just under seventeen at the time of the accident; she had had a driver’s license only about one month but had learned to drive about two years previously. She had driven this car before and had not experienced any previous difficulty. Her father had given her permission to drive. A short distance from her home she stopped at a stop light, commented on the fact that she wasn’t feeling too well, took a sip of coke from Dierdre, and handed it back to her. They drove on about a block on the inside lane of a four-lane street when all of a sudden the car veered to the right, ran up a guy wire and upset, injuring Dierdre. Diana did not remember applying the brakes and did not remember any reason why the brakes would have been applied.

Appellee Jones was unhappy with the car. He felt that he had more trouble with it than he should have had. He stated *507 that during the period he owned it he had trouble with the steering, the brakes and with the rear end being out of line. He did not discover that the rear end was out of line until three or four months prior to the accident when he noticed that the rear tires were wearing unevenly. The car had 18,000 miles on it at that time. Jones complained to General Motors with regard to the rear end alignment, but they refused to fix the rear end alignment under the warranty. He stated that he had difficulty with the steering, in that at times the power steering would seem to steer the same as a car with conventional steering. It never had a failure of the power steering, or steered as hard as a car with the power completely gone. The car never turned itself without the steering wheel being turned and when turned, the car always responded. He stated that on some occasions when the brakes were applied, he found it necessary to pump them once or twice. On other occasions the car pulled over to one side. He testified that he had added power steering and brake fluid to the car and that the steering and brakes had been adjusted or repaired.

Appellant stated in his affidavit and deposition that appellee had admitted to him that on one or more occasions on trips to West Texas the car had veered to the left or right without being turned while driving down the highway, and he might be driving along with one hand and had to grab with both hands.

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Bluebook (online)
392 S.W.2d 504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snyder-v-jones-texapp-1965.