Texas Electric Ry. Co. v. Texas Employers' Ins.

9 S.W.2d 185, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 777
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 21, 1928·No. No. 652.·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

STANFORD, J.

Suit by appellees, Texas Employers’ Insurance Association and Mrs. Georgia C. James, to recover damages for the death of George W. James, whose death it was alleged was the result of a collision between an automobile being driven by the said George W. James and an interurban car operated by appellant. It was alleged that the Texas Employers’ Insurance Association, by reason of being obligated to pay compensation to Birs. Georgia C. James, wife of the said George W. James, under the Workmen’s Compensation Law (Rev. St. 1925, art. 8306 et seq.) wa.s entitled to subrogation to the extent of its liability to her. Appellees alleged that the said George W. James was traveling in an easterly direction along Ren-ick street in an automobile, and, while attempting to cross the track of appellant in the corporate limits of the city of Waco, one of appellant’s electric cars struck said automobile while on the crossing of its track with said Renick street, and killed the said George W. James. Appellees alleged several specific acts of negligence on the part of the employees of appellant operating said interurban car which proximately caused the collision and death of the said James. Appellant, in addition to a general demurrer, special exceptions and a general denial, pleaded several special defenses. As there is no contention but that the pleadings were sufficient to raise all issues made by the evidence, it is not necessary to more fully set out the pleadings of either party.

The case was submitted to a jury on many special issues, all of which were found favorable to appellees, basing liability on the part of appellant on the grounds:

(1) That the motorman in charge of said interurban car, in approaching said Renick *187 street crossing, failed to give any warning of its approach.

(2) That the motorman in charge of said interurban car was negligent in operating said car, as it approached said crossing, at the rate of speed it was operated.

(3) That the deceased was in peril on said ■crossing, and the motorman discovered his peril in time to have avoided the injury, etc.

In response to a number of special issues, the jury exonerated the deceased from every conceivable phase of contributory negligence, and assessed the damages at $18,150. After a remittitur of $3,150, the court entered judgment against appellant for $15,000. Appellant has duly appealed, and presents the record here for review.

Under several propositions, appellant contends, in effect, that the court should have instructed a verdict in its favor, or have set aside the findings of the jury exonerating deceased from contributory negligence and finding the negligence of appellant the cause of the collision. The record discloses the collision occurred in East Waco on the crossing of Renick street with the, interurban tracks. Reniek street extends east from the Waco-Dallas road. The interurban, in approaching Waco from the north, crosses Renick street, making an angle of about 60 degrees between the north line of Renick street and the west rail of the track of the interurban. Deceased, traveling north along the Dallas road, turned into Renick street, and, while proceeding east along Renick street and while oh the crossing of said street over the interurban track, was struck by a south-bound interurban .car, and almost instantly killed. The distance from the Dallas road along Renick street to the interurban tracks is 250 feet. Almost along this entire distance the view to the north is completely obscured by buildings, high plank fences, signboards, etc., so that it is difficult for one approaching said crossing on Renick street going east to see an interurban approaching said crossing from, the north, until he gets near the interurban tracks. Just as the driver of an automobile emerges from the obstructions on the north side of Renick street, the front of the automobile is visible from the north for a distance of 215 feet along the track. The deceased, early on a cold morning, approached said crossing going east. His engine was not working well from the time he turned into Renick street until he reached said crossing. The evidence is sufficient to show that the interurban approached said public street crossing at a rate of speed ranging from 30 to 40 • miles per hour, without giving any warning of its approach by gong, whistle, or otherwise, prior to the collision. We think the findings of the jury that the appellant; under all the circumstances, was guilty of negligence in its failure to give any warning and in the rate of speed at which its interurban approached said crossing, and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the collision and death of the deceased, are sustained by the evidence.

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Texas Electric Ry. Co. v. Texas Employers' Ins., 9 S.W.2d 185, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 777 (Tex. Ct. App. 1928).

9 S.W.2d 185 (Texas Electric Ry. Co. v. Texas Employers' Ins.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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