Christian v. Jeter
| Decision Date | 12 March 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,No. 44658,44658,2 |
| Citation | 287 S.W.2d 768 |
| Parties | Harry C. CHRISTIAN and National Cash Register Company, a Corporation, Respondents, v. Burl JETER and Mabel Jeter, Appellants |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Ward & Reeves, Caruthersville, for appellants.
Hyde & Purcell, Poplar Bluff, for respondents.
BOHLING, Commissioner.
Harry C. Christian and National Cash Register Company, a corporation, owner of an automobile operated by Christian, sued Nagib Koury and Phillip Koury, partners, and Burl Jeter and Mabel Jeter, husband and wife, for damages for personal injuries and property loss arising out of a collision between three automobiles. Counterclaims and cross-claims were filed on behalf of the different litigants. Plaintiffs submitted their case on primary negligence and defendants defended on the ground of contributory negligence. Defendants Jeter, who have appealed, state in their brief that the claims between the different parties were disposed of other than the claims between plaintiffs and defendants Jeter. It is sufficient for the purposes of this appeal to state that, upon the verdict of the jury, judgment was entered in favor of Harry C. Christian for $25,000 and in favor of National Cash Register Company for $2,750 and against defendants Burl Jeter and Mabel Jeter; and in favor of plaintiffs and against the several defendants on their counterclaims.
The sole point presented is that the court erred in striking the testimony of J. B. Morgan on stopping distance.
The collision occurred February 7, 1952, about 11 a. m., a mile or two north of the Missouri-Arkansas state line, on United States Highway 61, which at the scene was a two-lane, level, straight, dry highway, 18 feet wide.
Christian was operating plaintiff corporation's 1950 Chevrolet panel truck northwardly in the performance of his duties as serviceman for his co-plaintiff. Defendant Phillip Koury, with his father, Nagib Koury, on the seat with him, was operating his 1951 Chevrolet pickup truck southwardly, on business of the partnership, and Burl Jeter, driving, and Mabel Jeter, on a joint business trip, were following the Koury automobile in their 1951 Cadillac sedan.
There was testimony that Koury was traveling approximately 35 to 40 m. p. h.; Christian, 50 m. p. h.; and the Jeters, 50 to 55 m. p. h.
Christian noticed the approaching southbound automobiles but nothing unusual in the situation, his attention being directed to the Koury truck and the fact that the two would pass on a bridge over a drainage ditch. The length of the bridge was between 55 and 65 feet. When he was south and the other automobiles were north of the bridge he saw the Jeter Cadillac pull over into the east lane to pass the Koury truck. He could not say how far the automobiles were from the bridge at that time. Other witnesses testified the south and northbound automobiles were from 300 to 500 feet apart. Jeter saw plaintiff's automobile approaching and, realizing he did not have time to pass, tried to return to his lane of travel. In doing so the right front of the Cadillac struck the Koury truck, knocked it into the bridge railing and out of control, and the Koury truck then swerved eastwardly into the left side of plaintiff's truck, causing plaintiff's truck and the Cadillac to collide head-on.
Defendants Koury called J. B. Morgan, who stated he had sold automobiles off and on for thirty years, to establish the damage to their truck. On cross-examination by counsel for the Jeters, he testified he thought he was acquainted generally with the distance it would take Christian to stop, and that at 50 miles per hour, it would take 70 feet to stop. Plaintiffs' counsel had interposed timely objections to the witness' qualifications as an expert.
On cross-examination by plaintiffs' counsel the witness testified that he had not made any special tests for stopping cars and trucks; that he did not know how many feet a second a car traveling 50 m. p. h. was moving; that a car traveling 60 m. p. h. was moving 'about a foot a second.' Asked what he was allowing for reaction time, he asked if that meant after getting your foot on the brake, and, receiving an affirmative reply, stated 'a couple of seconds,' 'two seconds,' if you were not expecting an accident; that if one were traveling...
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...of knowledge. Wigmore, Sec. 478, p. 518; Ibid., Sec. 656, p. 762; Davis v. Gatewood, Mo., 299 S.W.2d 504, 510; Christian v. Jeter, Mo., 287 S.W.2d 768, 770(2); Pedigo v. Roseberry, 340 Mo. 724, 102 S.W.2d 600, 606(4); Cole v. Uhlmann Grain Co., 340 Mo. 277, 100 S.W.2d 311, 321(9). But, this......
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