Anderson v. C. E. Hall & Sons Inc. . Hines
| Decision Date | 20 July 1944 |
| Citation | 131 Conn. 232,38 A.2d 787 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | ANDERSON v. C. E. HALL & SONS, Inc. (two cases). HINES v. SAME. LA BRIE v. SAME. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Superior Court, Hartford County; O'Sullivan, Judge.
Actions by George W. P. Anderson, Matilda M. Anderson, William N. Hines, and Celina La Brie, administratrix of the estate of Remeo La Brie, against C. E. Hall & Sons, Inc., to recover damages for personal injuries, death, and injury to property sustained in an automobile accident. The four cases were tried together to the court, and, from a judgment in each case in favor of the plaintiff, defendant appeals.
No error.
Julius B. Schatz and Arthur D. Weinstein, both of Hartford (Edward Seltzer, of Hartford, on the brief), for appellant (defendant).
W. Arthur Countryman, Jr., of Hartford, for appellees (plaintiffs Anderson).
Ernest W. McCormick, of Hartford, for appellees (plaintiffs Hines and La Brie, administratrix).
Before MALTBIE, C. J., and BROWN, JENNINGS, ELLS, and DICKENSON, JJ.
These four cases were tried together and the traffic situation involved was fairly complicated. The basic question is whether the negligence of the defendant was the proximate cause of the injuries. This permits a summary of the finding along broad lines to present this issue.
The finding was made with care and is not subject to correction in any respect material to this appeal. On February 4, 1941, George Anderson was driving three fellow workmen, Hines, Grillo and LaBrie, to Hartford from Groton in his wife's Plymouth car. The weather was clear, the road dry and the visibility good. It was about 6:15 p.m. and darkness had fallen. The car was traveling north on the Hartford-New London turnpike, passed over the section known as the Ten Curves and came to the top of Dickinson Hill. From the crest of the hill, a straight downgrade extends for half a mile. The traveled portion of the highway consists of concrete, eighteen feet wide, with six-foot hard shoulders.
At this time, the defendant was operating a heavy tractor south on the same road. A trailer, six feet wide, was attached thereto. A fifty-five ton crane, eleven feet ten inches wide overall, was carried on the trailer. As the crane was wider than the trailer, its caterpillar treads projected beyond the platform of the trailer and hung down on each side, clearing the ground by about six inches. Each caterpillar was fifteen feet long, two feet eleven inches wide and three feet high. The tractor was equipped with two headlights and three small lights over the center of the cab, two amber and one green. In addition to the fixed lighting equipment on the trailer, two red lanterns had been hung on the side of the crane above the inside edge of the left caterpillar. All of these lights were lighted. Other than the warning which they might give to approaching operators, there was nothing on the tractor or trailer, in the way of clearance lights, to indicate that a caterpillar extended out from each side of the trailer a distance of substantially three feet beyond the outside warning light. The caterpillar tread projected across the center line and occupied a part of the left-hand side of the traveled portion of the highway. The tractor trailer with its load started to climb the rather steep grade at a speed of from two to four miles per hour.
Anderson drove down the hill on his right-hand side of the road at thirty-five to forty miles per hour with his headlights lighted. He saw the tractor's headlights but was unable to see beyond them and did not know that a very large tractor and trailer were nearing him. After the Plymouth had passed the tractor, its left front collided with the front end of the protruding caterpillar. It was thrown counterclockwise and stopped at right angles to the highway, blocking its eastern half, and headed toward the trailer. The collision demolished the left front of the Plymouth and drove the left side of its frame backwards so that it bent upwards in the form of a bow. The trunk in the rear was smashed when it struck a tree at the side of the road. The tractor was stopped immediately. LaBrie was hurled to the pavement north of the Plymouth where he lay unconscious. Anderson and Hines, both of whom were in the front seat, were thrown forward but remained in the car, stunned and completely disoriented up to the time of a second collision. Grillo crawled out of the back seat and wandered around aimlessly, likewise disoriented.
Immediately after this first collision, three other cars approached. Two, one from the north and one from the south, were stopped and sent for assistance. The third, a Ford sedan, operated by Arthur Kaufman, then approached from the south at a speed of forty-five miles an hour. Kaufman saw the headlights of the tractor but could not see beyond them. Unsuccessful attempts were made to stop him. He slowed down somewhat and moved well over on his own side of the highway. Unaware of the danger, he proceeded on past the front end of the tractor and then, for the first time, saw the Plymouth too close to avoid a collision. The Ford struck the left side of the Plymouth, pushing it over the unconscious form of LaBrie. Kaufman and his two passengers were uninjured and no glass in the Ford was broken except the right headlight. Between two and four minutes elapsed between the first and second collision. Anderson was seriously and permanently injured and was given judgment for $36,000. His real injuries resulted from the second collision. Hines had judgment for $4587.38. LaBrie was killed and his administrator had judgment for $12,840.50. Mrs. Anderson was awarded $250 for damage to her car, which was demolished.
On these facts the trial court concluded that the defendant was negligent, that its negligence was the proximate cause of both collisions and that neither...
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