W. L. Hulett Lumber Co. v. Viking Freight Co.

252 P.2d 1017, 208 Okla. 26
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 27, 1953
DocketNo. 34950
StatusPublished

This text of 252 P.2d 1017 (W. L. Hulett Lumber Co. v. Viking Freight Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
W. L. Hulett Lumber Co. v. Viking Freight Co., 252 P.2d 1017, 208 Okla. 26 (Okla. 1953).

Opinion

DAVISON, Justice.

This is an action wherein Viking Freight Company, a corporation, as plaintiff, sought to recover, from the defendants, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, a corporation, and Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake, the sum $2,350, as damages for the almost complete destruction of a motor tractor trailer, resulting from a highway collision caused directly and proximately by the alleged negligence of the defendants. The case of W. L. Hulett Lumber Co. v. Bartlett-Collins Co., 206 Okl. 93, 241 P.2d 378, grew out of the same occurrence and was an action for damage done thereby to the cargo being transported in plaintiff’s tractor trailer. The parties here will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court.

At about four-thirty o’clock on the afternoon of October 31, 1947, one W. B. Gris-sette was driving a motor tractor trailer belonging to the plaintiff, Viking Freight Company, loaded with a cargo of glass products belonging to the Bartlett-Collins Co. of Sapulpa, Oklahoma. He was driving along highway No. U. S. 66 in a northeasterly direction between Quapaw, Oklahoma, and Baxter _ Springs, Kansas, at. a point some two miles northeast of Quapaw. Approaching him from the north, was a one and one-half ton International truck, owned by the defendant, Hulett Lumber Co. and being driven by one Noah Pierce-field, with whom a helper, Charles Ferris, was riding. Immediately behind defendant’s truck, the defendant, Mrs. Lue Dema [1018]*1018Shewmake, was driving a passenger car, in the same direction. She started around the Hulett truck at a time when it was only a few hundred feet from the plaintiff’s vehicle. The right rear part of her car struck the left front part of the Hulett truck, which immediately went off into the ditch on the right side of the highway, traveled in the ditch about one hundred feet, came back up out of the ditch, crossed the highway and collided with plaintiff’s trailer. The impact knocked the gas tank off the trailer and punctured it, spilling the gasoline over the highway under the trailer. The gasoline was ignited and the ensuing fire burned the trailer, its cargo and much of the motor tractor. The defendant, Shewmake, after striking the Hulett truck and slightly damaging the fender of her car thereby, did not stop but continued on down the highway about a.half a quarter of a mile when she noticed the fire and turned around and went back to the scene of the collision.

A jury trial of the issues resulted in a verdict for $2,350 for plaintiff as against the defendant, Hulett Lumber Co., only. From a judgment based thereon, said defendant has perfected this appeal.

The most serious contention of plaintiff in error is that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting, over the objection of the defendant lumber company, the' testimony of the defendant, Shewmake, that the driver of the lumber company truck turned to the left across the center line of the highway immediately before, and causing, the collision of the truck and the Shewmake car. This testimony was offered and admitted as evidence in chief by the plaintiff. It is contended that such proof was at variance with the issues and in contradiction of the allegation of facts constituting negligence, as contained in plaintiff’s petition.

The petition contains* the following allegations relative, to negligence:

“2. Plaintiff alleges that said collision was caused by the negligence and want of care of the defendants, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, and Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake, in any or all of the following particulars, to-wit:
“(a) That the defendant, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, was guilty of negligence in not keeping a proper lookout in the situation and under the conditions then existing in that had defendant’s agent and employee, Noah Piercefield, kept a proper lookout he would have observed the trailer and tractor of the plaintiff approaching from the south on its own right hand side of the highway and would 'have observed the car driven by Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake attempting to pass hbn all in time to have been able to have reduced the speed and altered the direction of his truck by turning to> the right in such a manner as to have avoided a collision with the car driven by Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake and to have thereby avoided crossing the center of the road and striking the plaintiff’s trailer and tractor while plaintiff’s trailer and tractor were on the right or east side of the road.
“(b) That the defendant, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, was guilty of negligence in that the defendant’s agent and employee, Noah Piercefield, was driving the truck owned by the defendant without maintaining proper control thereof, in that had the driver of said truck 'been driving with ordinary and reasonable care under the circumstances and the situation then existing he would have been able to have kept his truck on the right side of the center of the road and thereby would have been able to have avoided striking the truck owned by the plaintiff even though his truck had previous-, ly been struck on the left front by the car owned and operated by Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake.
“(c) That the defendant, W. L. Hu-lett Lumber Company, was guilty of negligence in that said defendant violated Rule of the Road Number 1, 69 Okl.St.Ann. 583, in that said defendant’s truck agent and employee, Noah Piercefield, permitted said truck to cross from the right or west side across the center of said road into the lane of oncoming traffic and strike the [1019]*1019plaintiff’s trailer and tractor with great force and violence.
“(d) That the defendant, Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake, was guilty of negligence in driving said automobile at a reckless and excessive rate of speed ■under the conditions then and there existing, to-wit, a speed of approximately 45 miles per hour.
“(e) That the defendant, Mrs. Lue Dema Shewmake was guilty of negligence in that she violated Rule of the Road Number 2, 69 Okl.St.Ann. § 583, in that in passing the truck of the defendant, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, she failed to keep to the left of the center of the road until clear of said truck but on the contrary negligently pulled over to the right before clearing said truck thus striking said truck ovoned by the defendant, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, and that said collision contributed to the fact that the operator of the truck owned by the defendant, W. L. Hulett Lumber Company, lost control of said truck thereby permitting it to strike the trailer and tractor owned by the plaintiff.
“(f) That the combination of negligent acts on the part of the defendants as above described were the direct and proximate cause of the truck belonging to the W. L. Hulett Lumber Company crossing to the wrong side of the road and running into the trailer and tractor owned by plaintiff while said trailer and tractor on the right and proper side of the road, without which acts of negligence on the part of the defendants said accident would not have occurred and the trailer and tractor of plaintiff would not have been damaged.”

Section 311 of Title 12 O.S.1941 provides :

“No variance between the allegations in a pleading and the proof, is to be deemed material, unless it has actually misled the adverse party, to his prejudice, in maintaining his action or defense upon the merits.

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Related

W. L. Hulett Lbr. Co. v. Bartlett-Collins Co.
1952 OK 75 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Guinan v. Readdy
1920 OK 206 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1920)
Franks v. Reeder
1924 OK 95 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Howard v. Stewart
1945 OK 183 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1945)
Oklahoma Railway Co. v. Ivery
1949 OK 62 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1949)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
252 P.2d 1017, 208 Okla. 26, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/w-l-hulett-lumber-co-v-viking-freight-co-okla-1953.