Collier v. St. Louis Public Service Co.

• Decision Date: 05 February 1957
• Docket Number: No. 29497,29497
• Citation: 298 S.W.2d 455
• Parties: McElroy COLLIER (Plaintiff), Respondent, v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY, a Corporation (Defendant), Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 455

298 S.W.2d 455

McElroy COLLIER (Plaintiff), Respondent, v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY, a Corporation (Defendant) Appellant.

No. 29497.

St. Louis Court of Appeals, Missouri.

Feb. 5, 1957.

Robert E. Staed, St. Louis, Lloyd E. Boas, St. Louis, of counsel, for appellant.

Lying, MacLeod & Davidson, Russell N. MacLeod, Edward I. Davidson, St. Louis, for respondent.

HOUSER, Commissioner.

Action for damages for personal injuries arising out of an intersectional collision between plaintiff's automobile and defendant's bus. The negligent act submitted to the jury was defendant's violation of a city ordinance by failing to stop the bus before entering an intersection in the face of an electric traffic control signal which changed from amber to red as defendant's bus was approaching and before it reached the intersection. The pleaded defense of contributory negligence submitted to the jury was plaintiff's act of starting up and driving his automobile into the bus when plaintiff saw or could have seen the danger and could have avoided the collision by remaining stationary or by stopping or slackening his speed. Defendant appeals from a judgment for $5,000 rendered upon a verdict for plaintiff, contending that plaintiff failed to prove the negligence submitted, failed to prove permanent injuries and by his own admission convicted himself of contributory negligence as a matter of law.

Plaintiff's northbound automobile collided with defendant's eastbound bus in the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Kingshighway and Manchester Avenue in the City of St. Louis. Kingshighway runs north and south. Manchester runs east and west. Both are 50-60 feet wide. There are three eastbound traffic lanes on Manchester. The bus was running east in the right or southernmost lane. There are three northbound traffic lanes on Kingshighway. Plaintiff's automobile occupied the center lane. Electric signals control traffic at the intersection. The lighting sequence was as follows: Kingshighway, green for 40 seconds followed by amber for 8 second, then Manchester, green for 48 seconds followed by amber for 4 seconds. When the lights are green for north and south traffic they are red for east and west traffic. A crosswalk 8-10 feet wide runs east and west on the south side of Manchester. There is a distance of 8-10 feet from the north edge of the crosswalk to the south curb (extended) of Manchester. The eastbound bus stop for this intersection is located on Manchester, immediately east of Kingshighway. As plaintiff approached the intersection the traffic light turned red. He brought his car to a stop about 1 1/2 feet south of the crosswalk, first in line in the center northbound lane. A vehicle (either a panel truck or a passenger car, plaintiff was not certain which) pulled up and stopped on plaintiff's left, a 'little bit ahead of' him and first in line in the inside northbound lane. About 10 northbound cars stopped for the red light in the three northbound lanes. Several southbound cars on Kingshighway likewise were at a standstill, awaiting the change in the red light. The panel truck to plaintiff's left was a 'dark looking object' which blocked his vision to the left. When the light for northbound traffic turned green plaintiff's car was in low gear. He started up as soon as he could. Plaintiff looked or glanced to the left side to see if anything was coming from the west. He could not see in that direction on account of the panel truck, which 'went out ahead of' plaintiff 'a little bit.' Plaintiff glanced on ahead--looked north--and started forward. Plaintiff did not look to the right or left after he started forward. When the light for northbound traffic turned green the driver of the vehicle to plaintiff's left, George Grand, also started forward, his front bumper 2-3 feet ahead of plaintiff's front bumper. After proceeding 5-10 feet into the intersection, Grand saw the oncoming bus out of the corner of his eye. The bus was then in the intersection, only 10-15 feet to Grand's left. Grand's car was traveling 4-5 feet in advance of plaintiff's car. Grand 'slammed on his brakes' and came to a stop. The bus missed the front end of Grand's car by 6 inches or a foot. Plaintiff did not see Grand's car come to a stop. Plaintiff's car continued forward. 'All of a sudden' the bus came into plaintiff's vision approaching from plaintiff's left. When plaintiff first saw the bus it was only 5-10 feet distant from plaintiff's car, the right front of the bus 'almost in front of' plaintiff. At the time plaintiff first saw the bus plaintiff's car had proceeded some 5-10 feet into the intersection. The left front of plaintiff's car and the right front of the bus collided. From the position where plaintiff's car had been standing before the change in the traffic light to the point of collision plaintiff traveled from 22-31 1/2 feet. The highest speed plaintiff's car reached in this distance was 5-10 m. p. h. At 5 m. p. h. he could stop in 10-12 feet, at 10 m. p. h. in 24 feet. As soon as plaintiff saw the bus he attempted to 'throw' his foot on the brake, grab the steering wheel and swered to the right. He thought but was not sure that he did these things. After the impact plaintiff's car came to a stop in the middle of the street 1-1 1/2 feet east of the point of impact, headed northeast. The bus came to a stop at the bus zone 55-70 feet east of the point of impact. The speed of the bus as it proceeded across the intersection was variously estimated at 20, 30 or 40 m. p. h. The bus was 10 feet high, 8 feet wide and 35 feet long.

When the light turned green for plaintiff all of the north and southbound vehicles began to move forward. Robert Easterday, whose southbound car had been first in line in the inner southbound lane on Kingshighway, proceeded forward 10 feet or so past the crosswalk lane after the light turned green. Then he noticed the bus coming from the west (his right). He 'slammed on his brakes' and came to a stop north of the line of travel of the bus and some 10-20 feet from the place from which he started. The bus passed 15-20 feet in front of him after Easterday's car had stopped. Irving A. Campbell was driving the car immediately behind plaintiff. When the light for northbound traffic turned green Campbell started his car forward. Campbell noticed that traffic headed west on Manchester was 'piling up, stopping at the sign.' After the light for northbound traffic turned green and after the north and southbound traffic had started to move forward Campbell first saw the bus, which at that time was in the middle of the street. The bus 'appeared rather suddenly right in front of the middle of all this traffic.' Campbell had gone about 5-6 feet when the bus crossed in front of plaintiff's car. The bus was higher than plaintiff's car, and Campbell's view of the bus was not obscured. Dr. Norman Orgel was driving in the center lane for northbound traffic about 3, 4 or 5 cars behind plaintiff. 'A little while' after the light for northbound traffic turned green all the cars in Dr. Orgel's lane, including plaintiff's, started forward very slowly. The doctor looked up 'on a slant' and saw the bus coming through from the west. He saw the bus before it reached the intersection. It passed into his vision 'from the corner.' When the bus passed the corner the green light was in favor of northbound traffic, according to Dr. Orgel. As the eastbound bus went through the intersection there was no westbound traffic on Manchester. Dr. Orgel had no trouble seeing the bus over the top of the cars. James Garber, a passenger on the bus, testified for plaintiff that the bus did not stop before entering Kingshighway but crossed the intersection at about 25 m. p. h.; that the traffic light changed from green to amber; that when the bus entered the intersection the light was amber; that the light changed from amber to red when the bus was 'right in the middle of the intersection.' He said that the bus 'had got pretty well across Kingshighway intersection when the light changed to red.'

On behalf of defendant the bus driver, Gabriel Shoults, testified that he approached the intersection at 20 m. p. h.; that when the bus was 50 feet west of the intersection the light for eastbound traffic was green; that when the bus was 20-25 feet west of the intersection the light had changed from green to amber; that an eastbound passenger car traveling at about the same speed as the bus and preceding the bus by 15-20 feet stopped before entering the intersection; that when the amber light came on Shoults did not stop but proceeded through the intersection; that when the bus reached the west curb line of Kingshighway the light was still amber; that when he went into the intersection the light was still amber; that the light turned red when the bus was 'about the center of the street,' i. e. when the front end of the bus was 'just about the middle of Kingshighway;' that the cars in the northbound lane were stationary when the front of the bus passed in front of them; that thereafter plaintiff's car moved forward and struck the right rear wheel of the bus.

Defendant's first point is that plaintiff failed to prove the only negligent act submitted, i. e. that defendant entered the intersection in the face of a red light. Defendant asserts that the only witness produced by plaintiff who testified concerning the condition of the light was James Garber and that he testified positively and unequivocally to the contrary, namely, that the light was amber when the bus entered the intersection and that it did not turn red until the bus had reached the middle of Kingshighway. Defendant claims 'there is no evidence in the record that the bus entered the intersection after the eastbound light showed red.' Plaintiff is not conclusively bound by any unfavorable testimony given by the witness James Garber if his testimony was contradicted either expressly or by...