White v. Hammond

199 S.E.2d 809, 129 Ga. App. 408, 66 A.L.R. 3d 459, 1973 Ga. App. LEXIS 1025
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 28, 1973
Docket47693
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 199 S.E.2d 809 (White v. Hammond) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Hammond, 199 S.E.2d 809, 129 Ga. App. 408, 66 A.L.R. 3d 459, 1973 Ga. App. LEXIS 1025 (Ga. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinions

Stolz, Judge.

This case involves three automobiles in two separate collisions. Plaintiff (Mrs. White) was traveling west on U. S. Highway 82 in Tift County, Georgia, following an automobile driven by defendant Hammond. Defendant Hall was operating his vehicle on said highway in an easterly direction. The collisions occurred when defendant Hammond attempted to make a left turn into an intersecting dirt road and the right rear of his vehicle was struck by the right rear of the oncoming vehicle. The Hall vehicle then traveled approximately 40 feet, crossed into the westbound traffic lanes and collided head-on with the plaintiffs’ vehicle.

The evidence shows that the collision took place on the flat portion of a hill crest; that the range of view was approximately 300 feet; that when defendant Hall first saw defendant Hammond’s [409]*409vehicle it was in the eastbound (Hall’s) traffic lane approximately 150 feet away; that at this time defendant Hall estimated his speed at approximately 50-55 m.p.h.; that defendant Hall applied the brakes of his vehicle and skidded an estimated (by a State Patrolman) 100 feet before colliding with defendant Hammond’s vehicle. The evidence further showed that the collision between the Hall and Hammond vehicles occurred 2 feet from the south edge of the highway in the eastern half of the intersection; that prior to the collision defendant Hammond (an 82-year-old man), gave a left turn signal, drove into the eastbound traffic lane (his left side of the road), and, while driving very slowly, attempted to make a left turn by entering the eastern edge of the intersection, rather than a proper left turn.

Uncontroverted medical information showed that plaintiff Mrs. White was attended by her family physician on the day of the collision; that he examined her and found "hematomas, bruises and contusions of the chest and neck and abdomen and back.” The physician further testified that this plaintiff had hematoma and bruises of the "abdomen and chest and sprain of the neck and back.” The physician prescribed certain medicines, a course of conservative treatment, and saw this plaintiff periodically for treatment thereafter. The plaintiff Mrs. White testified that, shortly after the collision, she "got to hurting in my chest and in my stomach and my back started hurting”; that she stayed in bed for a week following the wreck; that she had suffered pain in various parts of her body since the collision and that the injuries "hadn’t all went away” at the time of the trial.

Mrs. White was driving a new 1971 Ford LTD automobile owned by her husband, co-plaintiff Lamar White. The automobile cost $4,954.00, was only two months old, and had around 5000 miles on it when involved in the collision. Its fair market value before the wreck was estimated at $4,300-$4,400, but only $600-$700 after the wreck. Evidence showed a cost of repair estimate by the local Ford dealer (seller of the automobile originally) to be $2,188.28. Unimpeached evidence showed that Mrs. White had medical and drug bills totalling $267.50 as the result of the injuries sustained in the wreck. Evidence was before the jury showing Mr. White’s loss of his wife’s services. The jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant Hall in both cases, against plaintiff Mrs. White as to both defendants, and in favor of plaintiff Mr. White against defendant Hammond. Held:

[410]*4101. Any harm to appellant Ellie White’s case of any possible error by the court in violating Code § 38-302 in refusing to allow her to testify that her doctor told her to stay in bed and rest, when such statement was offered for the limited purpose of explaining her conduct in going home and going to bed, was vitiated by the full and complete testimony of her doctor. We believe the error, under all the circumstances, was harmless. Ga. L. 1966, pp. 609, 664 (Code Ann. § 81A-161).

2. Plaintiff Mrs. White’s suit against both defendants sought damages for personal injuries sustained as the result of the negligence of both defendants. Plaintiff Lamar White’s suit against both defendants sought recovery of medical expenses, damages to his automobile, and loss of his wife’s services, companionship and consortium. The two cases were consolidated for convenience and tried before a single jury. Both plaintiffs contended that the verdicts rendered in their cases and the judgments rendered thereon, were illegal, illogical, inconsistent, conflicting and erroneous. As to the defendant Hall, this is simply not the case. The jury found for him against both plaintiffs.

It is contended that the evidence before the jury would authorize the $2,500 judgment against the defendant Hammond based on property damage. We disagree. The measure of damages for injury to an automobile is the difference in the fair market values thereof immediately before and after the injury is done. Kenner v. Whitehead, 115 Ga. App. 760 (1) (156 SE2d 136). Here, no repairs were made on plaintiffs (Mrs. White’s) automobile. The unchallenged evidence showed damages to plaintiffs automobile ranging from $3,600-$3,800, hospital and medical expenses of approximately $267.50, plus loss of his wife’s services by Mr. White.

The evidence outlined above shows that the plaintiff (Mrs. White) sustained injuries as a result of the collision. Her testimony to this effect was corroborated by the testimony of three medical doctors, one of whom was called by defendant Hammond. While there was evidence that plaintiff (Mrs. White) had sustained a previous injury to her back, her family physician testified positively that she had not come to him with complaints of back trouble since another physician (to whom she had been referred) performed a laminectomy in 1968-1969 for a herniated disc. The evidence plainly takes the case out of the rules expressed in Buckhead Glass Co. v. Taylor, 226 Ga. 247 (174 SE2d 568), Reiss [411]*411v. Howard Johnson’s, 121 Ga. App. 119 (173 SE2d 95), and Purdy v. Norrell, 111 Ga. App. 546 (2) (142 SE2d 311) which are distinguishable on their facts. Under the facts in this case, Mr. White’s action is derivative of Mrs. White’s claim. If she is not entitled to recover, he cannot do so. As heretofore mentioned there was ample evidence before the jury showing that Mrs. White sustained specific, painful injuries, for which she sought and received medical treatment. Under the evidence, the jury verdicts were illogical, inconsistent, conflicting, erroneous and illegal.

The situation in the case sub judice is most similar to that in Nickle v. Armstrong Furniture Co., 107 Ga. App. 362, 363 (130 SE2d 249). Both cases involve separate common-law actions by different plaintiffs (husband and wife) against the same defendants that are tried together for the purpose of expediting the business of the court and for the convenience of the parties. In both cases the husband’s suit is derivative of the wife’s claim. In Nickle, supra, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant in the wife’s case, but for the husband in his suit. This court erroneously upheld that result, stating: "There could have been no complaint had the two present cases been tried before separate juries at different times with the same results reached as in the present cases.” Recently, this court seems to have come to an opposite view. See Smith v. Tri-State Culvert Mfg. Co., 126 Ga. App. 508 (191 SE2d 92) and cit.; Waggoner v. Bevich, 127 Ga. App. 877 (195 SE2d 246). Unfortunately, these cases did not expressly disapprove the rule set forth in Nickle v. Armstrong Furniture Co., supra.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Groover v. Dickey
325 S.E.2d 617 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1984)
Stapleton v. Palmore
297 S.E.2d 270 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1982)
Stapleton v. Palmore
291 S.E.2d 445 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1982)
MILLER GRADING &C. v. Ga. Fed. &C. Assn.
279 S.E.2d 442 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1981)
White v. United States
510 F. Supp. 146 (D. Kansas, 1981)
Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Spicer
275 S.E.2d 116 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1980)
McFarland v. Kim
275 S.E.2d 364 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1980)
Compher v. Georgia Waste Systems, Inc.
273 S.E.2d 200 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1980)
Jordan v. Ellis
250 S.E.2d 859 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1978)
Mitchell v. Reece
244 S.E.2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1978)
Pepsico Truck Rental, Inc. v. Eastern Foods, Inc.
243 S.E.2d 662 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1978)
Willis-Wade Co. v. Lowry
241 S.E.2d 461 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1978)
Camp v. T. E. Cline, Inc.
233 S.E.2d 280 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1977)
Peek v. Department of Transportation
229 S.E.2d 554 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1976)
White v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
229 S.E.2d 775 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1976)
Parzini v. Center Chemical Co.
221 S.E.2d 475 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1975)
Hixson v. Barrow
218 S.E.2d 253 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1975)
Jarrett v. Parker
217 S.E.2d 337 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1975)
Bagwell v. Sportsman Camping Centers
204 S.E.2d 794 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 S.E.2d 809, 129 Ga. App. 408, 66 A.L.R. 3d 459, 1973 Ga. App. LEXIS 1025, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-hammond-gactapp-1973.