Carr v. Cox, 46437
| Decision Date | 06 December 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 46437,46437 |
| Citation | 255 So.2d 317 |
| Parties | Ida CARR v. Dr. Roy L. COX. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Crawley & Ford, Kosciusko, Carter & Carter, Columbus, for appellant.
Stone & Graham, Columbus, for appellee.
Ida Carr (plaintiff) sued Dr. Roy L. Cox (defendant) for property damages and personal injuries sustained when defendant's automobile struck the rear of plaintiff's vehicle. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff for $2500. Plaintiff filed a 'motion for new trial on the issue of damages only' on the ground that the verdict was so inadequate that it showed bias and prejudice on the part of the jury. The motion was overruled, judgment was entered accordingly, and plaintiff appealed.
This Court agrees that the damages are inadequate and no doubt would reverse but for the question of contributory negligence. Defendant's answer alleged that plaintiff attempted to discipline children who were riding in the back seat of her car and in so doing suddenly stopped her vehicle in the highway.
The plaintiff's testimony concerning liability was as follows: Plaintiff was driving a 1966 Ford automobile south on the Natchez Trace. Five small children were on the back seat. Her speed was thirty-five miles per hour. She heard a sound, looked in the rear view mirror and saw nothing. In a few seconds she was struck in the rear. Her car was moving when struck. The weather was fair; the pavement was dry.
Defendant's testimony was as follows: He was driving his Dodge car south on the Natchez Trace at a speed of about fifty miles per hour. He was gradually overtaking the plaintiff's car. When he was four or five car lengths from plaintiff's car, the plaintiff stopped in the highway without giving any signal. He applied his brakes as quickly as he could and turned to his right, but his left front struck the left rear of plaintiff's car. Plaintiff was physically disciplining the children immediately after the accident.
The park ranger, who appeared shortly after the accident, testified that defendant laid down 69 feet of skid marks, and plaintiff's vehicle was 54 feet south of the point of impact. Defendant's car traveled 69.5 feet after the impact. He said plaintiff told him she had slowed down to say something to the children on the rear seat.
Plaintiff was given emergency treatment by her physician and x-rayed at the hospital after the accident, then released. She returned for physical therapy on four occasions within a week of the accident and thereafter went to the hospital on five or six occasions over a period of a year for x-rays and laboratory work. Plaintiff's injuries included contusion of the chest, whiplash of the neck, and lumbosacral strain. She has a pre-existing...
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