Terminal Cars, Inc. v. Wagner

135 S.E.2d 802, 205 Va. 214
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedApril 27, 1964
DocketRecord Nos. 5738, 5739
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 135 S.E.2d 802 (Terminal Cars, Inc. v. Wagner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Terminal Cars, Inc. v. Wagner, 135 S.E.2d 802, 205 Va. 214 (Va. 1964).

Opinion

Eggleston, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

Mildred E. Wagner, while riding as a passenger in a taxicab owned by Terminal Cars, Incorporated, and driven by its employee, Ernest W. Nichols, was thrown from the seat and injured when the driver brought the vehicle to a sudden stop in the effort to avoid a collision with a truck driven by Columbus Manning. To recover damages for her injuries Mrs. Wagner filed a motion for judgment against Terminal Cars, Incorporated, Nichols and Manning. Nichols died before the trial and the case against him was revived in the name of the administrator of his estate. The plaintiff has recovered a verdict and judgment in the sum of $6,000 against Terminal Cars, Incorporated, Nichols’ administrator and Manning.

Based on the same record, Terminal Cars, Incorporated, and Manning filed separate petitions for writs of error which were granted. No petition was filed on behalf of Nichols’ administrator.

Neither Terminal Cars nor Manning questions the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict, but each assigns error to the rulings of the trial court on certain instructions.

The evidence is without serious conflict. About 2:00 P. M. on March 24, 1962, the plaintiff engaged a taxicab to carry her from downtown to her residence on Gates avenue in the city of Norfolk. On his chosen route the driver proceeded westwardly along Olney Road, thence northwardly along Llewellyn avenue toward Princess Anne Road where he intended to make a left turn and proceed westwardly.

Llewellyn avenue is a one-way street designed for northbound traffic with two lanes separated by a solid white line on the pavement. As the taxicab approached the intersection of Llewellyn and Franklin avenues, Manning, driving a truck eastwardly along Franklin avenue, came into Llewellyn avenue, made a left turn, and proceeded northwardly along the latter street ahead of the taxicab which was going in the same direction. It was Manning’s intention to make a left turn from Llewellyn avenue into Westover avenue which is one short block north of Franklin avenue. As Manning was beginning to execute his left turn off of Llewellyn avenue the taxicab driver undertook to pass the truck on its left. When the cab driver [217]*217observed that passing in this manner and under these conditions might result in a collision he blew his horn, applied his brakes, cut his cab to the left, and brought it to a sudden stop with its front wheels against the left curb. Because of the sudden stop the plaintiff was thrown from the seat of the taxicab and injured.

¡Manning, the truck driver, testified that before entering Llewellyn avenue from Franklin avenue he looked to his right, that is, the direction from which the taxicab later came, and although he had a clear view for two blocks he saw no traffic approaching. He made a left turn into Llewellyn avenue and headed north in the right-hand northbound lane. He said that because of the presence of cars parked on Westover avenue it was necessary for him to make a wide left turn into the street, and for that reason he directed his vehicle into the right-hand lane on Llewellyn avenue. When he had proceeded about one-half of the distance between Franklin and West-over avenues he put on his mechanical signal, indicating his intention to make a left turn, and proceeded into the left-hand northbound lane on Llewellyn avenue. Before doing this, he said, he looked into his rear-view mirror and saw no vehicle behind him. As he was about to execute the left turn into Westover avenue he heard the horn and brakes of the taxicab and saw the latter vehicle which had come to a stop about four or five feet to the rear of the truck. Before that time he had not seen the taxicab and was unaware that it was following his vehicle.

While the enclosed body of the truck prevented the use of an inside rear-view mirror the vehicle was equipped with an outside one. Manning testified that this latter mirror was in good condition and that “you can see perfect” with it except when a following vehicle is close to the “tail end” of the truck, in which event it is not visible to the driver.

As has been said, Nichols, the taxicab driver, died before the trial. However, a statement recorded about a month after the accident, giving his version of it, was read in evidence. According to this statement, Nichols said that as he drove northwardly along Llewellyn avenue he “saw the truck all the time” ahead of him, but did not know that it was going to make a left turn. He further said that when the driver of the truck attempted to make a left turn ahead of him he (Nichols) had to bring his taxicab to a sudden stop in order to avoid a collision. When asked whether the truck driver gave any [218]*218signal of his intended left turn Nichols’ answer was, “If he gave any signal whatsoever, I did not see them.”

The plaintiff testified that she did not see the truck until after she had been thrown from the seat by the sudden stopping of the taxicab. She said that she had been driving for eighteen years and from her experience estimated that prior to the accident the taxicab was proceeding along Llewellyn avenue at “around 30 miles an hour.” The permitted speed limit along there, she said, was 25 miles an hour.

Terminal assigns error to the granting of eight instructions, four of which were tendered by counsel for the plaintiff and four by counsel for Manning.

Instruction P-1, offered by the plaintiff, told the jury that if they found from the evidence that the operator of the taxicab was driving in excess of the speed limit then he was guilty of negligence. Instruction X, offered by Manning, told the jury that it was the duty of the driver of the taxicab to exercise the highest degree of care to refrain from operating his vehicle “at a speed no greater than that which was reasonable and proper under the circumstances.” These instructions were objected to by Terminal on the ground that there was no “competent evidence” of excessive speed by its driver. We hold that the related testimony of the plaintiff, that the taxicab was being driven in excess of the speed limit, was sufficient to support the instructions.

Instruction P-2, offered by the plaintiff, and Instruction V, offered by Manning, told the jury that it was the duty of the driver of the taxicab “to exercise the highest degree of care” to keep a proper lookout and to keep his vehicle under proper control. Terminal objected to these instructions on the ground that there was no evidence that the driver of the taxicab failed to keep a proper lookout or failed to keep his vehicle under proper control. Neither objection was well taken. One of the main issues in the case was whether Manning gave a signal of his intended turn, and if so, whether the taxicab driver saw, or should have seen, the signal. If the signal was given, as Manning says, then the admitted failure of the taxicab driver to see it and his failure to observe that the truck was beginning to turn ahead of him, would justify the jury in finding that he was not keeping a proper lookout. The fact that the driver of the taxicab, in order to avoid a collision, brought his vehicle to a stop so suddenly that the plaintiff passenger was thrown from the seat and injured [219]*219would justify the jury in finding that he did not have his vehicle under proper control.

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135 S.E.2d 802, 205 Va. 214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terminal-cars-inc-v-wagner-va-1964.