Tyler v. Jensen

295 P.2d 742, 75 Wyo. 249
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedApril 10, 1956
Docket2709 to 2714, inc.
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 295 P.2d 742 (Tyler v. Jensen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tyler v. Jensen, 295 P.2d 742, 75 Wyo. 249 (Wyo. 1956).

Opinions

[261]*261OPINION

Sheldon, District Judge.

Herbert R. Tyler, Jr., accompanied by his wife, Bethel Catherine Tyler, was driving his Ford automobile west on U. S. Highway 30 approximately 52 miles west of Rock Springs, Wyoming, when he became involved in a three-vehicle accident at about 9:00 a.m. on March 20, 1952.

The Ford was being followed at a short distance by a large Mack tractor-trailer unit owned by Rulon Jensen of Ogden, Utah, and doing business as Rulon Jensen Trucking Company. Martin D. Klinke, designated as driver, and Lester C. Dunn, designated as alternate driver, were employee-operators of this unit, and at the time of the accident Dunn was at the wheel and Klinke was resting in the sleeper behind the cab. The truck was under lease to Keyes Tank Company, a Utah corporation, of Provo, Utah, and had just been used by that company to haul a load of its metal pro[262]*262ducts from Provo to Salina, Kansas. At the time of the accident the unit was being returned from this trip with a heavy load of milo maize purchased at Oakley, Kansas, by Klinke under the orders and directions of Rulon Jensen for his use and benefit.

William M. Perkins of North Hollywood, California, was driving a Cadillac automobile east on said highway accompanied by his wife, Anna Perkins, and Darlene Gibson when his car collided head-on with the Ford. The tractor-trailer unit, traveling at about 20 miles per hour, was about 150 feet behind the Ford at the time the two cars came together, and Dunn, being unable to stop or control his vehicle because of the snow and slippery condition of the highway, ran into the rear end of the Ford. The weather was bad; it had been snowing intermittently during the morning and a strong wind was blowing, causing a ground blizzard which at times reduced the visibility to zero. Tyler and Perkins were unable to see each other until their cars were about 50 feet apart and, although neither car was traveling fast, they were unable to stop or avoid the collision. The testimony of Tyler and Dunn placed the Cadillac in the westbound lane of traffic at the time of the accident, and Perkins testified he did not know where he was in relation to the road.

As a result of the accident both Mr. and Mrs. Tyler were severely injured and the Ford demolished. The Tylers brought separate actions in the District Court of Sweetwater County, each joining Rulon Jensen, Keyes Tank Company, Lester Dunn and William M. Perkins as defendants. Their respective second amended petitions are identical, excepting as to the allegations of damages, and charge that the defendants Perkins and Dunn both operated their respective motor vehicles negligently, thereby causing them to collide with the Ford either simultaneously or almost simultaneously, resulting in the injuries complained of. [263]*263Lester Dunn is alleged to be the agent, servant and employee of both Rulon Jensen and Keyes Tank Company. The cases were consolidated in the District Court for trial and tried to a jury, resulting in a verdict and judgment in each case in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants Perkins and Dunn jointly and severally and against Keyes Tank Company jointly and severally with Perkins and severally with Lester C. Dunn, and a verdict and judgment in each case in favor of the defendant Rulon Jensen and against the plaintiffs respectively.

Six separate appeals have been filed in this court from the verdicts and judgments of the District Court. Both plaintiffs have appealed from the verdict and judgment in favor of the defendant Rulon Jensen in their respective cases. The defendant William M. Perkins has appealed from the verdict and judgment against him in favor of the plaintiffs in each case. The defendant Keyes Tank Company has appealed in each case from the verdict and judgment, both against them and in favor of Rulon Jensen. The defendant Dunn has not appealed. All appeals were consolidated in this court for hearing and will be disposed of in this one opinion. No issue is raised on appeal as to the amount of damages awarded the plaintiffs.

The defendant Perkins contends that his motion for a directed verdict should have been sustained because: (a) his alleged negligence, to-wit, “driving on the wrong side of the highway” is inconsistent with the established physical facts proved upon the trial, and therefore, the testimony of Tyler and Dunn placing his car in the westbound lane of traffic should be disregarded by the court; (b) plaintiffs’ damages were caused by the negligence of Dunn, which was an independent intervening cause which could not have been reasonably anticipated or foreseen by Perkins; and (c) the evidence fails to establish concurrent neg[264]*264ligence on the part of the several defendants and, therefore, separate actions are improperly joined. Perkins also contends that the trial court did not properly instruct the jury as to the law applicable to his theory of the case.

An examination of the record discloses that ample evidence was introduced upon the trial of this case to sustain the jury’s finding of negligence on the part of defendant Perkins. Perkins testified that he met two snow plows traveling west about a mile apart, the second of which he had just passed immediately prior to the accident, and that it was a snow flurry from this plow which temporarily blinded him so that he could not see the Ford until he was only 45 to 50 feet from it. After the accident the Cadillac came to rest well over the center line on the south side of the highway. Perkins’ counsel argue that this evidence definitely placed the Cadillac on the south side of the highway at the time of the accident. Counsel ignore the testimony of both Tyler and Dunn that neither saw a snow plow ahead of them on the highway, from which testimony the jury might well have assumed that Perkins was mistaken in point of time as to when he passed the snow plow and concluded that he had ample opportunity and would naturally be inclined, after passing the snow plow, to move over onto the cleared portion of the road and into the westbound lane of traffic. Counsel also ignore Perkins’ testimony to the effect that he did not know where he was in relation to the road or if he was on the wrong side of the road and that ground blizzards were generally prevalent at the time, reducing visibility to zero. Perkins also testified that his car was pushed back at a forty-five degree angle at the time of the second crash when we heard a lot of scraping and dragging. Perkins admits that after the collision between the Ford and the Cadillac these cars stopped bumper to bumper. [265]*265It also appears from the evidence that Tyler drove as far to the right as the snow bank on the north side of the road would permit in an effort to avoid the accident, and that after the accident the Ford came to final rest well over on the north side of the highway.

Plaintiffs’ second amended petitions allege that their respective injuries were caused by the concurrent but separate and detailed acts of negligence of the defendants Perkins and Dunn. The general denials of both Perkins and Dunn put this matter in issue, and Dunn specifically pleads that the injuries were caused by the independent intervening acts of negligence of Perkins which could not have been reasonably anticipated or foreseen by Dunn. The case was tried and submitted to the jury on these issues, and under the court’s instruction defining and distinguishing between concurrent and intervening negligence the jury returned a verdict finding Perkins and Dunn guilty of concurrent negligence.

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Bluebook (online)
295 P.2d 742, 75 Wyo. 249, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tyler-v-jensen-wyo-1956.