Stortz v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc.

141 So. 814
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 16, 1932
DocketNo. 13999
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 141 So. 814 (Stortz v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc.) 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
Stortz v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc., 141 So. 814 (La. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

HIGGINS, J.

This is a suit by Mr. and Mrs. Stortz to recover damages for personal injuries and medical expenses from the defendants, the New Orleans Public Service, Inc., George .Roy, and Mrs. C. A. Chambers, in solido, said to have resulted through the joint negligence of the defendants.

The petition alleges that on January 11, 1929, about 1 o’clock p. m., Mrs. Stortz was seated on the front seat of her husband’s half-ton Pord truck, which was parked on Sophie Wright place (formerly Camp place), parallel to the curb, facing down town, and directly in front of the Magazine Market, holding her three year old son in her arms; that Miss Mildred Chambers, the minor daughter of Mrs. C. A. Chambers, one of the defendants, was driving the Pontiac coupé of the defendant, George Roy, with his consent and for his account, in the direction of Canal street on Sophie Wright place (street), when a Magazine street car in charge of the defendant railway company’s employees, going in the same direction, struck the coupé and, as a result of the collision, the automobile was knocked against the truck in which Mrs. Stortz was sitting, causing her to fall backward into the truck, with the child on top of her, and to sustain certain physical injuries, and, subsequently, a miscarriage; that the motorman was at fault in not keeping a proper lookout and in driving the street car at an excessive rate of speed, and that Miss Chambers, the driver of the coupé, was negligent in driving the coupé in front of the street car. The husband prays for medical expenses in the sum of $121 and the wife for [815]*815damages for personal injuries in tlie sum of $5,000.

Tlie New Orleans Public Service, Inc., denied liability, averring that tlie accident was caused solely through the fault of Miss .Chambers in driving the coupé automobile suddenly and without any warning directly in the path of the street ear, while the street car was being operated in a careful manner and at a moderate rate of speed, and that the motorman did everything in his power to avoid the accident by sounding his gong and applying the emergency brake.

. The defendant George Roy denied that any relation of agency existed between himself and Miss Chambers, the driver of his Pontiac coupé car, and, therefore, disclaimed liability.

Defendant, Mrs. C. A. Chambers, filed' an exception of no right or cause of action, which was overruled, and then answered denying liability and averring that her daughter was free from fault; that she was over eighteen years of age, and, at the time of the accident, was driving the Pontiac eoupé automobile of defendant Roy with his consent and for his account.

There was judgment in favor of the plaintiffs against the defendant Mrs. C. A. Chambers for the sum of $621 and dismissing their suit as against the other defendants, New Orleans Public Service, Inc., and George Roy. Mrs. Chambers has appealed suspensively. Plaintiffs have appealed devolutively from the judgment dismissing the suit as against the defendant New Orleans Public Service, Inc., and, also, have answered the appeal of Mrs. Chambers, asking that the amount awarded be increased to the sum prayed for. The judgment of the district court dismissing plaintiffs’ suit against George Roy is final as far as plaintiffs are concerned, because they did not appeal as to him.

The exception of no right or cause of action filed by Mrs. Chambers is based upon the following grounds, to wit:

First, that the petition fails to allege that Miss Chambers was an unemancipated minor, or that her father was deceased.

Second, that section 73 of Act No. 296 of 1928 repealed article 2318, Rev. Civ. Code, in so far as it concerns unemancipated minors who have reached the age of eighteen years, so as to relieve parents and guardians of responsibility for damages caused by the negligence of such minors.

Taking up the grounds of the exception in order, we observe that the first and second paragraphs of plaintiffs’ petition read as follows:

“That the New Orleans Public Service, Inc., a Louisiana corporation, Mrs. C. A. Chambers, a widow, whose full name is unknown to your petitioners, and George Roy (the last two of whom are of lawful age and residents of the City of New Orleans), are justly and truly indebted unto your petitioners in the full sum of Five thousand, one hundred and twenty-one ($5121.00) dollars, for this, to-wit:

“(2) That Mrs. C. A. Chambers is the mother of Miss Mildred Chambers, a minor who resides with her said mother at 2352 Camp street.”

Article 2318 of the Revised Civil Code provides as follows: “The father, or after his decease, the mother, are responsible for the damage occasioned. by their minor or un-emaneipated children, residing with them, or placed by them under the care of other persons, reserving to them recourse against those persons. The same responsibility attaches to the tutors of minors.”

We believe that the foregoing allegations of the plaintiffs’ petition are sufficient to bring the plaintiffs’ case within the provisions of article 2318 of the Civil Code. If the allegations of the petition in this respect were not clear and definite enough as far as the defendant Mrs. Chambers was concerned, her right was to file an exception of vagueness. Furthermore, this court and the Supreme Court, on. a number of occasions, have held that, where an exception of no right or cause of action is based upon insufficiency of allegations in the petition, the trial court should permit an amendment and not dismiss the suit. In the instant case on the trial on the merits, Miss Chambers testified, without objection, that her father was dead, that she was living with her mother at the time the accident occurred, and that she was uneman-cipated.

In Toca v. Rojas, 152 La. 318, 93 So. 108, 111, ’ the plaintiff sued for damages for the use of his minor son, who, he alleged, was injured in the eye by the hook of a fish line negligently handled by the defendant’s son. No allegation was made that the defendant’s son resided with the defendant, his father, and, because of the absence of such allegation, an exception of no cause of action was filed. In overruling the-exception the court said:

“It, therefore, being the law of the case that the minor, John Rojas, could have no other residence than that of his father, that residence continued until changed in some manner provided by law. If, as a matter of fact, there had been any change in the legal requirement and in the legal status as to residence, or if for any reason the parental authority and control of the father over his son had been suspended, interrupted, or destroyed, that fact certainly was peculiarly within the knowledge of the defendant, and was clearly a matter to be urged in defense of the action.

“Our conclusion is that the petition sets forth a cause of action, and that it was not [816]*816necessary for the plaintiff to allege that the defendant’s minor son was residing with him.”

We conclude that the first contention under the exception is without merit.

We now pass to the second ground of the exception, i. e., that section 73 of Act No. 296 of 1928, the General Traffic Law of the State of Louisiana, repealed article 2318, Rev. Civ. Code, as above stated. The relevant part of that section of the statute reads as follows:

“Section 73. (Minors Operating Motor Vehicles.)

“No person shall be permitted to operate a motor vehicle until they have reached the age of 14 years.

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Bluebook (online)
141 So. 814, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stortz-v-new-orleans-public-service-inc-lactapp-1932.