Adams v. Louisville Taxicab & Transfer Co.

• Decision Date: 11 May 1948
• Citation: 211 S.W.2d 397,307 Ky. 405
• Parties: ADAMS v. LOUISVILLE TAXICAB & TRANSFER CO.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

211 S.W.2d 397

307 Ky. 405

ADAMS v. LOUISVILLE TAXICAB & TRANSFER CO.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky

May 11, 1948

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jefferson County, Common Pleas Branch Third Division; William H. Field, Judge.

Action by Carrie Adams against Louisville Taxicab & Transfer Company for injuries sustained while riding in a taxicab owned and operated by the defendant. From a judgment following instructed verdict for defendant, the plaintiff appeals.

Judgment reversed for proceedings not inconsistent with opinion.

Ray H. Kirchdorfer, and Robert E. Hogan, both of Louisville, for appellant.

Robert L. Page and Albert F. Reutlinger, both of Louisville, for appellee.

VAN SANT, Commissioner.

On the afternoon of April 19, 1946, appellant, Carrie Adams, who was seventy-five years of age, was injured while riding in a taxicab owned and operated by appellee, Louisville Taxicab &amp Transfer Company. Her injuries were incurred by reason of a collision of the cab and an automobile owned by Ollie Brown which was being operated by Ida Belle Malone. Appellant filed suit against Brown, Ida Malone, and the Taxicab Company. At the conclusion of the evidence the Trial Court peremptorily instructed the jury to find for appellant against Brown and Ida Malone. In accordance with such instruction, they fixed the damages at $15,112. The Court also instructed the jury to find for appellee, Louisville Taxicab & Transfer Company. No appeal has been taken by Brown or Ida Malone, and the only question involved on this appeal is whether the Court correctly instructed the jury to find in favor of appellee.

Appellant was a passenger in appellee's taxicab which was being operated by Oscar D. Attkisson. The cab was proceeding in a southerly direction on Twenty-Second Street in Louisville. The Brown car, with Ida Malone driving, was proceeding easterly on Garland Avenue. Twenty-Second Street is a boulevard, and the City had provided a sign instructing operators of vehicles proceeding on Garland Avenue to stop before entering the intersection. The uncontradicted evidence shows that one proceeding in a southerly direction on Twenty-Second Street at a point fifty feet north of the entrance to the intersection can observe a vehicle which has arrived at a distance forty-eight feet west of the Garland Avenue entrance into the intersection. Ida Pendleton who was a passenger in the Brown car occupying the front seat to the right of the driver, testified that the driver of the Brown car stopped before entering the intersection, then proceeded in low gear into the intersection, and the cab and automobile collided in the southwest quarter of the territory composing the intersection. She estimated that the cab was being driven at a speed of approximately thirty-five miles per hour. The cab driver testified that he was driving at a speed slightly less than twenty miles per hour, and that he did not see the Brown car until a moment before the collision occurred. He testified that immediately following the collision his cab 'turned around in the street twice' and came to a stop 'about fifty feet below (south of) Garland.' He further testified that the car came to a stop with the front wheels of the car against the easterly curb of Twenty-Second Street and the car facing an easterly direction. All the testimony on the particular point shows that the Brown automobile came to a stop at the point of impact. The evidence is not clear as to whether the intersection in question is in a residential or business part of the City; therefore, we can not assume that the cab was traveling at a speed which would be prima facie evidence of negligence. However, the testimony as to its speed was sufficient...