Underwood v. Dunbar

628 So. 2d 211, 1993 WL 492566
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 1, 1993
Docket25234-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 628 So. 2d 211 (Underwood v. Dunbar) 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
Underwood v. Dunbar, 628 So. 2d 211, 1993 WL 492566 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

628 So.2d 211 (1993)

Green E. and Barbara UNDERWOOD, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
Anthony W. DUNBAR and Allstate Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 25234-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 1, 1993.
Writ Denied February 25, 1994.

*213 Arbour & Aycock by Larry Arbour, West Monroe, for appellees.

Donald & Gates by M. Randall Donald, Monroe, for appellants.

Before LINDSAY, HIGHTOWER and STEWART, JJ.

HIGHTOWER, Judge.

In an action for damages arising from an automobile accident, plaintiff, Green Underwood, appeals both the allocation of fault and the adequacy of certain awards. Finding no manifest error upon a review of the record, we affirm.

FACTS

On the rainy afternoon of January 7, 1990, motor vehicles driven by Underwood and *214 Anthony Dunbar collided at the intersection of Louisiana Highway 546 ("La. 546") and U.S. Highway 80 ("U.S. 80"). At that location, a flashing red light and stop signs control La. 546, a two-lane roadway running north and south, while east-west traffic on the other thoroughfare encounters a blinking yellow caution signal. A hilltop, situated approximately 700 feet (0.15 miles) west of the intersection on U.S. 80, obstructs visibility.

Dunbar drove his thirty-four-foot motorhome southward on La. 546, also known as the Cheniere-Drew Road. Stopping at the intersection as directed by the signals, he scanned U.S. 80 for oncoming traffic. To his right, he could only see the crest of the above-mentioned hill; a single car appeared far to his left, affording ample time for crossing the favored highway. Dunbar thus began traversing the two-lane roadway. After successfully maneuvering across the westbound portion of the highway, he sighted an approaching pickup approximately 250 feet to his right. Determining that braking would be useless at this point, he accelerated in an effort to avoid a collision. Nevertheless, the truck collided with the right rear wheel of the recreational vehicle.

The other driver, Underwood, had been proceeding east on U.S. 80 in a 1989 Ford Ranger. His wife rode as a passenger and, near the top of the hill, commented on the attractive motorhome sitting at the intersection. Although something then distracted plaintiff's attention from the roadway, he continued to travel at approximately 55 miles per hour. When he next observed the recreational vehicle, it had reached the middle of the eastbound lane. Unable then to stop his pickup on the wet roadway, he chose to swerve to the right, striking the crossing motorhome in the manner previously described. As a consequence of injuries sustained in the collision, Underwood later instituted suit against Dunbar and his insurer, Allstate Insurance Company.[1]

After trial, the lower court found each driver fifty percent at fault and fixed Underwood's general damages at $16,000, in addition to $1,404 for past lost wages. Also, under that adjudication, his medical expenses encompassed $2,763.11 for past outlays and $300 for future medication. After the fifty percent reduction, a total award of $10,233.55 resulted. Finally, the district judge assessed one-third of the costs to plaintiff and two-thirds to defendants. As stated, Underwood now appeals.

DISCUSSION

Allocation of Fault

Appellant first challenges the trial court's determination that his actions contributed to the accident. Essentially, it is urged that Dunbar should have been found solely at fault.

Causation and apportionment of fault constitute questions of fact, and the fact-trier's decision in that regard should not be overturned absent a showing of manifest error. Coleman v. Rabon, 561 So.2d 897 (La.App. 2d Cir.1990), writ denied, 567 So.2d 617 (La.1990). We are further mandated to view the evidence in the light most favorably supporting the trial court judgment. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989); Arceneaux v. Dominque, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978). Of course, each intersectional accident depends and must be decided upon its own facts. Crump v. Ritter, 583 So.2d 47 (La. App. 2d Cir.1991), writ denied, 588 So.2d 1113 (La.1991). Fault in such a collision, then, will be determined by evaluating the conduct of each motorist under all the circumstances of that particular case. Id.

In allocating comparative fault, consideration must be directed toward the nature of each party's conduct and the extent of the causal relationship between that conduct and the damages claimed. Some of the factors which may influence the degree of fault assigned in that assessment are: 1) whether the conduct resulted from inadvertence or involved an awareness of the danger; 2) how great a risk the conduct created; 3) the significance of what the actor sought by the conduct; 4) the capacities of the actor, whether superior or inferior; and 5) any extenuating circumstances which might require *215 the actor to proceed in haste, without proper thought. Of course, as evidenced by concepts such as last clear chance, the relationship between the negligent conduct and the plaintiff's harm are also considerations in determining the relative fault of the parties. Watson v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Ins. Co., 469 So.2d 967 (La.1985); Jackson v. A.L. & W. Moore Trucking, 609 So.2d 1064 (La. App. 2d Cir.1992).

Appellant argues that the record clearly illustrates Dunbar's fault. We agree. When faced with a stop sign and a flashing red light, a driver is charged to halt before entering an intersection and to yield the right of way to all vehicles which have entered the intersection from another highway, or which are approaching so closely on that highway as to constitute an immediate hazard. LSA-R.S. 32:123, 234. Upon approaching a favored highway, a driver must yield to oncoming vehicles on that thoroughfare and avoid creating a dangerous situation. Ogden v. Dalton, 501 So.2d 1071 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1987).

In the instant case, Dunbar stopped his motorhome at the intersection involved. Observing conditions first to the right and then to the left, he saw no vehicles which would obstruct his path across U.S. 80. However, the trial court found fault in his failure to look right again before traversing the highway. While this omission obviously contributed to the accident, we disagree with Underwood's notion that it constituted the sole cause of the collision. While appellant had been traveling the favored highway prior to the mishap, an amber flashing light controlled his passage through the crossing. Under LSA-R.S. 32:234, drivers may proceed through such signals only with caution.

Clearly, a motorist facing a flashing yellow light must exercise a greater degree of care and vigilance than one approaching a green light or an uncontrolled crossing. Jackson, supra; Fruge v. State, Dept. of Transportation and Development, 536 So.2d 745 (La.App. 3d Cir.1988), writ denied, 538 So.2d 593 (La.1989). Though such a driver has the right of way and may ordinarily expect that a motorist on an inferior street will stop before entering the intersection, or that a motorist who has so stopped will appropriately remain in place, the driver on the favored street can proceed under that assumption only until he sees or should have seen that the other vehicle will not obey the law. Jackson, supra; Touchet v. Champagne, 488 So.2d 412 (La.App. 3d Cir.1986).

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Bluebook (online)
628 So. 2d 211, 1993 WL 492566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/underwood-v-dunbar-lactapp-1993.