Claxton v. Hooks
| Decision Date | 20 November 1942 |
| Docket Number | 29634. |
| Citation | 23 S.E.2d 101,68 Ga.App. 383 |
| Parties | CLAXTON v. HOOKS. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
C S. Claxton, of Wrightsville, for plaintiff in error.
E L. Stephens, of Dublin, for defendant in error.
Annie Jane Hooks, a minor, by Minnie Hooks, her mother, as next friend, filed suit for damages against M. A. Claxton. She alleged that on March 21, 1940, around nine o'clock in the morning, as she was walking on a bridge located on the highway between Kite, Georgia, and Swainsboro, Georgia, and over the O'Hoopie river, she was struck by an automobile operated by the defendant and injured; that she was walking in an easterly direction on the left side of the bridge, that in order to avoid being hit by a truck coming toward her she walked across the bridge to the right side, continuing her walk in an easterly direction, and while passing the truck the defendant, who was traveling east on the bridge, approached her from the rear and struck her "while she was on the right-hand side of said bridge where she had a right to be;" that she had no notice or warning of the approach of the defendant from the rear; that the defendant approached the bridge at a speed of more than fifty-five miles an hour, and continued to drive his automobile at such speed on the bridge, and at the time he struck the plaintiff was driving more than fifty miles an hour, and did not reduce his speed or attempt to reduce it until he struck the plaintiff; that the defendant operated the automobile in such manner as to endanger the plaintiff's life and without due regard for her safety that the defendant, at the time he struck the plaintiff, was driving his automobile while under the influence of whisky or some other intoxicant, and was in an intoxicated condition. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was negligent, which acts of negligence were the sole, direct and proximate cause of her injuries, as follows: In driving his automobile at such speed; in not reducing his speed on the bridge; in driving at a speed greater than was reasonable and safe, without due regard to the conditions existing at the time, and without due regard to the safety of the plaintiff; in driving at the time while under the influence of whisky and in an intoxicated condition; and in not giving some signal or warning of his approach. The plaintiff alleged that at the time she was struck by the defendant's automobile she was in the exercise of her rights as a pedestrian on the bridge, walking on the right side thereof as she had a right to do, and was in nowise negligent in her conduct.
The defendant denied liability and alleged that the plaintiff was injured by reason of her own negligence by walking into the path of his automobile; that he was driving in the direction of Swainsboro from Kite, Georgia, at a rate not exceeding forty miles an hour; that the plaintiff was going east in the same direction, walking on the left side of the bridge; that M. B. Watkins was traveling west toward Kite in a truck, and just before the truck and car met the plaintiff suddenly ran to the right across the bridge in front of the Watkins truck and into the left front fender of the defendant's automobile; that when the defendant discovered the plaintiff running across the bridge in front of him he applied his brakes and endeavored to stop, but was too close to the plaintiff to...
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Whiteway Laundry & Dry Cleaners, Inc. v. Childs
.... every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway . . .' Claxton v. Hooks, 68 Ga.App. 383, 385, 23 S.E.2d 101, 103, provides: 'The driver of an automobile is bound to use reasonable care, and to anticipate that persons along a public......
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Leggett v. Brewton, 39084
...to assume that the road in front of him was clear of traffic,' error was committed requiring the grant of a new trial. Claxton v. Hooks, 68 Ga.App. 383 (23 S.E.2d 101); Kirkland v. Wheeler, 84 Ga.App. 352 (66 S.E.2d 348). A request, if correct in itself and adjusted to the facts, must be gi......
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Nathan v. Duncan
...serves a useful purpose. In the posture here the plaintiff was under a legal duty to keep a vigilant lookout ahead. Claxton v. Hooks, 68 Ga.App. 383, 385, 23 S.E.2d 101. If she were changing lanes of traffic, or making a turn to the right or left, or if she were coming to a stop, she would ......
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Shelton v. Rose, 42776
...statements see O'Dowd v. Newnham, 13 Ga.App. 220, 80 S.E. 36; Flowers v. Faughnan, 31 Ga.App. 364(1), 120 S.E. 670; Claxton v. Hooks, 68 Ga.App. 383, 385, 23 S.E.2d 101; Eubanks v. Mullis, 51 Ga.App. 728, 730, 181 S.E. 604; Christian v. Smith, 78 Ga.App. 603, 607, 51 S.E.2d 857; Roseberry v......