Winfield v. Dih

816 So. 2d 942, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1357, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1528, 2002 WL 1003874
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 24, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-CA-1357
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 816 So. 2d 942 (Winfield v. Dih) 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
Winfield v. Dih, 816 So. 2d 942, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1357, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1528, 2002 WL 1003874 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

| Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY.

This case involves a car-cab intersectional collision. After settling with the alleged tortfeasor and his insurer, the plaintiff, Melvin Winfield, Jr., proceeded to trial against solely his own insurer, Allstate Insurance Company, seeking recovery under his underinsured motorist coverage. From a judgment in favor of Mr. Winfield, Allstate appeals.

FACTS

The collision occurred on September 30, 1999, during afternoon rush hour at the intersection of South Carrollton Avenue (“Carrollton”) and Palm Street in New Orleans. The collision occurred when both drivers, Mr. Winfield and Nassar Alzai Dih, simultaneously attempted to make a right turn from Carrollton onto Palm Street. Carrollton at the point before this intersection is a two-way street with three travel lanes in each direction separated by a median. Both drivers were traveling in the direction of the river (north bound) on Carrollton. Mr. Winfield’s car was in the third travel lane. Mr. Dih’s taxicab was in the right shoulder area, which was designated “No Stopping.” That shoulder area also served as a bus stop for South Car-rollton buses; a bus stop was located in the middle of that block. The ^intersection of Carrollton and Palm Street is controlled by a signal light, which had turned green before the drivers simultaneously began their right turns.

Shortly before the collision, both drivers had dropped off a passenger. Mr. Win-field testified at that time he was on his way home from work and had just dropped off his passenger — a co-worker — at a bus stop on Washington Avenue, which adjoins Carrollton. Mr. Winfield testified that when he stopped for the red signal light at the intersection he was the first vehicle in the third travel lane from the median. Preparing to make a right turn, Mr. Win-field testified that he activated his right turn signal light and checked his rear view mirror, but did not see Mr. Dih’s taxicab. When the light turned green, Mr. Winfield turned from that third travel lane onto Palm Street. As he had almost completed his turn, the taxicab driven by Mr. Dih struck Mr. Winfield’s car on the rear passenger door.

[945]*945Mr. Dih testified that he dropped off his passenger — a friend not a paying fare — on the right shoulder of Carrollton. When he stopped to drop off his passenger, Mr. Dih testified that there was a line of about five cars in front of him on the shoulder. The cars in that line were waiting to turn right on red from that shoulder area. By the time he dropped off his passenger, Mr. Dih testified that there were no cars in front of him on the shoulder, and the signal light had turned green. Mr. Dih thus drove straight ahead on the shoulder to the intersection. As Mr.'Dih was in the process of turning right on green, he testified that he saw Mr. Winfield likewise beginning his right turn. At that point, Mr. Dih testified that he applied his brakes and honked his horn to alert Mr. Winfield of the impending collision. According to Mr. Dih, he had stopped when Mr. Winfield’s vehicle collided with the left front of his taxicab. Mr. Dih also testified that Mr. Winfield never activated his right turn signal light.

1^Although Mr. Dih admitted to offering Mr. Winfield $20 to settle the matter, Mr. Winfield insisted on waiting for the police. The investigating officer, Officer Vernell Brown, testified that when he arrived on the scene the vehicles had not yet been moved and that “it appeared that Vehicle 2 [Mr. Winfield’s] had the right of way” and was “further onto Palm Street, making his right turn than Vehicle 1 [Mr. Dih’s taxi cab].” On the police report that he prepared, Officer Brown depicted the position in which he found the vehicles; he stated that his sketch showed that Mr. Winfield’s car was about two-thirds onto Palm Street when the collision occurred. Officer Brown also described the location of the vehicles as Mr. Winfield’s vehicle being predominately on Palm Street and Mr. Dih’s vehicle being predominantly on the right shoulder of Carrollton. He depicted on his report the points of impact as the rear passenger side of Mr. Winfield’s car and the front left side of Mr. Dih’s taxicab.

The police report contains a narrative of each driver’s story. Mr. Winfield is quoted as stating that he was stopped in the right lane of Carrollton at the traffic light, which was red. When the light turned green he proceeded to turn onto Palm Street, when he was struck in the right rear side of his vehicle by Mr. Dih’s vehicle. Mr. Dih, on the other hand, is quoted as stating that he was stopped in the “bus lane” — on the right shoulder — on Carroll-ton behind traffic and when the light turned green he proceeded to turn on Palm Street, when Mr. Winfield’s vehicle turned in front of him, and caused an accident. The police report further states that there were no skid marks found and that neither driver reported any injuries.1

|4Officer Brown cited Mr. Dih for improper lane usage and lack of reasonable viligence. Lack of reasonable viligence, Officer Brown explained, means “bad judgment.” Officer Brown further testified that he used his best judgment and cited Mr. Dih for that reason because “[t]here is no stopping signs lane, as I would say, in the bus lane for vehicular traffic aside from buses, being that he was in that lane traveling making the right turn, and Vehicle 2 [Mr. Winfield’s] was in the third lane making a right turn, they were involved in an accident.” (Emphasis supplied). Offi[946]*946cer Brown still further testified, as the trial court noted in its reasons for judgment, that “it is unlawful for Dih to be traveling in the ‘bus lane.’ ” (Emphasis supplied).

Explaining the meaning of the term “bus lane,” Officer Brown testified that term refers to the extreme right lane in which Mr. Dih was traveling. Officer Brown acknowledged that he was unaware of any law designating that shoulder area in question as a “bus lane” and that there was no sign designating it as a “bus lane.” In fact, the signs on Carrollton designated this area as a “No Stopping” area, albeit with a bus stop located in the middle of the block. Nonetheless, Officer Brown testified the term “bus lane” was what his supervisor in the traffic division told him was the proper term to describe that area.

After the accident, Mr. Winfield was treated by two doctors for a knee injury and ultimately underwent surgery for that injury. This suit followed. Mr. Winfield originally named as defendants the taxicab driver, Mr. Dih; the taxicab driver’s employer, United Cabs, Inc.; and them insurer, North American Fire and Casualty Insurance Company; and Mr. Winfield’s own underinsured/uninsured motorist |scarrier, Allstate Insurance Company. As noted, Mr! Winfield settled with the tortfeasor and his insurer for their underlying policy limits of $25,000, leaving as a defendant only Allstate. As a result, the matter went to trial solely on the issue of Mr. Winfield’s contractual claim against Allstate for underinsured motorist coverage.

Following a bench trial, the trial court ruled in favor of Mr. Winfield and against Allstate. In its written reasons for judgment, the trial court stated that it found Mr. Winfield a credible witness. More particularly, the court reasoned:

[T]his Court finds that Dih, who was traveling in the bus lane, was negligent in failing to maintain a proper lookout and failing to yield the right [of] way to Winfield. This Court also finds that Winfield was lawfully making a right hand turn from South Carrollton Avenue onto Palm.

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Bluebook (online)
816 So. 2d 942, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 1357, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 1528, 2002 WL 1003874, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winfield-v-dih-lactapp-2002.