Walsh v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co.

167 S.W.2d 1018, 140 Tex. 385, 1943 Tex. LEXIS 245
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 6, 1943
DocketNo. 7940
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 167 S.W.2d 1018 (Walsh v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walsh v. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co., 167 S.W.2d 1018, 140 Tex. 385, 1943 Tex. LEXIS 245 (Tex. 1943).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Alexander

delivered the opinion of the Court.

J. M. Walsh, Jr., brought this suit against the Dallas Railway & Terminal Company for damages for personal injuries received by him as the result of a collision between the ambulance in which he was riding and a passenger bus operated by the Railway & Terminal Company, at a street intersection in the City of Dallas. The insurance carrier of Walsh’s compensation insurance joined in the suit. Judgment was for the plaintiff and the insurance company in the sum of $8,276.00. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the cause for a new trial. 156 S. W. (2d) 320.

The ambulance in which Walsh was riding belonged to Weaver Funeral Home, and was being driven by one Crane, the assistant manager. Walsh was an employee of the funeral home. At the time of the collision the ambulance had been sent on an alleged emergency call, and Walsh went along as a helper. The collision occurred at the intersection of Lemmon and Oak Grove Avenues. The bus was being driven south on Lemmon Avenue and the ambulance was traveling east on Oak Grove. There was a hedge at the northwest comer of the street intersection that obstructed the view of the driver of each' of the vehicles. There was a stop sign which required vehicles on Oak Grove Avenue to stop at the intersection, but there was no such stop sign for vehicles traveling on Lemmon Avenue.

The jury found that the bus was being operated in excess of twenty miles per hour; that the driver of the bus negligently failed to keep a proper lookout and to apply his brakes at the street intersection; and that each of these acts was the proximate cause of the collision. As to Crane, the driver of the ambulance, the jury found that he negligently failed to keep a proper lookout; that he negligently drove the ambulance in excess of twenty miles per hour, and at a greater rate of speed than was reasonable under the circumstances; that he failed to yield the right of way to the bus; and that he failed to apply his brakes and come to a full stop before entering the street intersection. But the jury further found that neither of these acts of negligence was the sole proximate cause of the collision. The jury found that Walsh failed to warn Crane to reduce his speed, and that although he knew there was a stop sign at the street intersection, he failed to warn Crane to stop, but that he was not negligent in either of these respects. The [388]*388jury found, in favor of the driver of the bus on the issue of discovered peril.

The Court of Civil Appeals held that the findings of the jury that the driver of the bus did not discover Walsh’s perilous position in time to avoid the collision, by the exercise of ordinary care in the use of all the means at his command, was in conflict with the finding that he negligently failed to apply his brakes and reduce his speed at the street intersection. This was the point upon which the writ was granted. We are not in accord with the view expressed by the Court of Civil Appeals. The driver of the bus could have been guilty of negligence in approaching the street intersection at a high rate of speed and without applying his brakes and thereby creating’ a dangerous situation which proximately caused the collision, even though he did not actually discover the approach of the ambulance in time to avoid the collision. There was no conflict in the findings of the jury in this respect.

The Court was also of the opinion that if, as found by the jury, failure to apply the brakes was a proximate cause of the collision, then, as a matter of law, under the undisputed evidence, excess speed could not haye a proximate cause of the collision — and, as a consequence, the two findings of the jury in this respect were in conflict. We are not in accord with this holding. There can be more than one proximate cause of a collision. 30 Tex. Jur., p. 694, Sec. 42; Blakesley v. Kircher (Com. App.), 41 S. W. (2d) 53, 55; Northern Texas Utilities Co. v. Floyd, 21 S. W. (2d) 6. The negligent act of the bus driver in approaching the street intersection at a high rate of speed, and his negligent failure to apply the brakes, each could have been a proximate cause of the collision.

However, the Court of Civil Appeals found that there was no evidence to support the jury’s findings that either of the alleged acts of negligence of which the bus driver was convicted was a proximate cause of the collision. There was an assignment that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict on these issues, and since the Court of Civil Appeals held that there was no evidence to support the verdict, we will assume that the court would have held that the evidence was insufficient. Cochran v. Wool Growers Central Storage Co., 140 Texas 184, 166 S. W. (2d) 904; Tweed v. Western Union Tel. Co., 107 Texas 247, 166 S. W. 696, 177 S. W. 957; Lillenthal v. Motor Car Indemnity Exchange (Com. App.), 239 S. W. [389]*389906; Rogers & Adams v. Lancaster (Com. App.), 248 S. W. 660; Maddox Motor Co. v. Ford Motor Co. (Com. App.), 23 S. W. (2d) 333. The right to find that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict was a matter exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Appeals, and we have no right to review that holding. Since the case was remanded for a new trial because of the insufficiency of the evidence, it would serve no useful purpose for us to here discuss the law question as to whether or not there was any evidence to support any of the findings of the jury. The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals remanding the cause for a new trial must be affirmed.

However, in view of another trial, there are other questions which we deem it necessary to discuss.

There was an ordinance in the City of Dallas which required all vehicles other than those excepted as “authorized emergency vehicles,” to come to a full stop before entering a street intersection where there was a stop sign, such as was on Oak Grove Avenue. “Authorized emergency vehicles,” when operating in an emergency, were permitted to proceed “past a red or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation,” and may “exceed prima facie speed limits (twenty miles per hour) so long as he does not endanger life or property.” The ordinance further provided:

“(b) Upon the approach of an authorized emergency vehicle as above stated, the moiorman of every streetcar shall immediately stop such car clear of any intersection and keep it in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police officer.”
“Authorized emergency vehicles” were defined as follows:
“Sec. 1. AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY vehicles. Vehicles of the fire department, police vehicles, and such ambulances and emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public service corporations as are designated or authorized by the chief of police of the City of Dallas.”

Upon the trial of the case the plaintiff took the position that the ambulance in which he was riding on the occasion in question was an “authorized emergency vehicle,” and entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto, and in sup[390]*390port thereof he introduced in evidence the ordinance above referred to, as well as other evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
167 S.W.2d 1018, 140 Tex. 385, 1943 Tex. LEXIS 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walsh-v-dallas-railway-terminal-co-tex-1943.