Woodfin v. Insel

13 Tenn. App. 493, 1931 Tenn. App. LEXIS 87
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 2, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 13 Tenn. App. 493 (Woodfin v. Insel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodfin v. Insel, 13 Tenn. App. 493, 1931 Tenn. App. LEXIS 87 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

DeWITT, J.

These three actions were instituted against Mrs. Mary Woodfin and R: M. Atkinson for damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiffs on February 8, 1930, as the result of a collision between a Hupmobile of R. M. Atkinson and a Ford sedan of Mrs. Mary Woodfin on the highway between Murfreesboro and Shelbyville at a point where a road from said highway leads off eastwardly to the town of Christiana. Mrs. Audra Insel, Mrs. Adaline Miler and Miss Janiece Sims (hereinafter referred to as plaintiffs) were sitting on the rear seat of the Ford sedan, which was being driven sothwardly by Woodfin Miller, a boy fifteen years of age. On the front seat with him was his mother, Mrs. Jim Miller, a daughter of Mrs. Woodfin the owner of the car. Woodfin Miller and his mother were killed by the collision. The plaintiffs suffered personal injuries. The car of R. M. Atkinson was being driven northwardly. When the Ford sedan of Mrs. Woodfin reached a point about opposite the mouth of the Christiana Road the driver undertook to turn his car to the left to go into that road, when it was struck on its right front side and wheel by the Atkinson car. Both cars were turned over and the casualties resulted as aforesaid.

These suits brought by these occupants of the rear seat of the Ford sedan, who were riding therein, were tried together to a jury before the Circuit Judge and resulted in verdicts and judgments for $1500 for each plaintiff against Mrs. Mary Woodfin and R. M. Atkinson jointly. Each of said defendants has appealed in error and assigned numerous errors.

There are five counts in each of the declarations as follows:

*495 “The first count alleges in substance that the plaintiff was riding as, a guest in the ear of the defendant Mrs. Mary Woodfin, which was at the time of the accident being operated by the defendant’s agent and servant, Woodfin Miller, when said automobile had a collision with the car of the defendant R. M. Atkinson. In this count it is alleged that the defendant Mrs. Woodfin, through her said servant, was guilty of negligence in that he recklessly, carelessly, negligently, and without exercising ordinary or reasonable care, steered or turned said automobile to his left, and in front of the car belonging to the defendant R. M. Atkinson, in an attempt to enter upon and turn into and upon the Christiana road whereby the car of the defendant Atkinson, which was being driven by his agent and servant, collided with the car in which the plaintiff was riding. Negligence against the defendant Mrs. Woodfin, only is alleged in this court.
“The second count avers negligence against the defendant H. M. Atkinson and charges, that he did unlawfully, recklessly, carelessly and negligently operate his car in that he was running at a fast rate of speed, failed to apply his brakes or stop his car, or drive around the car in which plaintiff was riding, or take the necessary steps or precaution to prevent the accident, and as a result of this negligence collided with the car in which plaintiff was riding, doing the damages complained of.
“The third count also alleges negligence against the defendant R. M. Atkinson, and charges that he was driving his said ear carelessly and heedlessly in willful and wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, and without due caution or circumspection, and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or likely to endanger the plaintiff.
“The fourth count charges that the defendant Mrs. Woodfin’s agent, unlawfully, negligently, carelessly and recklessly steered or turned his car to the left in front of the defendant Atkinson’s car, and that the defendant Atkinson unlawfully, negligently, carelessly, and recklessly operated his car in that he was running at a fast rate of speed, failed to stop or apply his brakes or pass around the car in which the laintiff was riding, thereby resulting in the collision, as a result of' the negligence of both defendants.
“The fifth count alleges that the defendant Atkinson was guilty of negligence in that there was plenty of room both on the highway and on the shoulder of the road for him to have driven his car around the plaintiff’s car. Also that at the time the plaintiff’s car made the turn the defendant Atkinson’s car *496 was some two hundred to three hundred feet south of said intersection and that there w'as plenty of distance for Atkinson to have stopped or slowed down his car and prevented the accident.7 ’

To each of the declarations the defendants pleaded not guilty. In behalf of Mrs. Mary Woodfin and R. M. Atkinson it is insisted that there is no evidence to support the verdict; and that the Circuit Judge erred in overruling their motions for peremptory instructions made at the close of all the evidence.

Mrs. "Woodfin, the owner of the Ford car, was an aged lady and could not drive the car. She resided at that time with her daughter, Mrs. Jim Miller and her husband, the parents of Woodfin Miller, but they were not dependent on Mrs. Woodfin nor was she dependent on them. The plaintiff Mrs. Adaline Miller was the wife of a grandson of Mrs. Woodfin. The other two plaintiffs were neighbors and friends. There is evidence that Mrs. Woodfin kept the car for general use, to visit stores, to make visits and to go to church; that Woodfin Miller was the only one who drove the car; that Mrs. Woodfin always permitted the members of the family to use the car, but that they always asked her permission before they used it. There is no evidence of registration of the automobile in the name of Mrs. Woodfin, but it is admitted that she was the owner of it. The five persons who were in this car at the time of the collision had been driven in it to Murfreesboro with the knowledge and consent of Mrs. Woodfin, and they were returning toward their homes near Christiana. There is no evidence that Mrs. Woodfin requested them to go on this trip. There is a hearsay statement by her son, unobjected to, that she asked them to bring back a pair of shoes, but the three plaintiffs testified that she did not request them to bring back anything; and if she had done so it would have been merely incidental to their trip.

The liability of Mrs. Woodfin, if any, depends upon the application of the “family purpose” doctrine. It is insisted that this was merely a loan, or bailment, and that in no view of the facts could Woodfin Miller be regarded as the agent of Mrs. Woodfin in ministering to the pleasure or. convenience of the occupants of the car. There is no evidence that Woodfin Miller was hired by Mrs., Woodfin to drive her car.

In the absence of evidence that the automobile was registered in the name of Mrs. Woodfin, the presumption created by chapter 59 of the Acts of 1923, that it was being operated by the owner’s servant for the owner’s use and benefit and within the course and scope of his employment, does not arise; for it arises only upon proof of registration. The statute, being in derogation of the common law, must be strictly construed. It is limited in its application to cases wherein is proof of registration and no proof of agency. Hodges *497 v. West, 8 Tenn. App., 307. The rule of the common law as to the absence of any presumption that the operator of an automobile was engaged on the business of the owner was declared in Frank v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 Tenn. App. 493, 1931 Tenn. App. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodfin-v-insel-tennctapp-1931.