Deason v. Greyhound Corp., 4648

• Decision Date: 08 October 1958
• Docket Number: No. 4648,4648
• Citation: 106 So.2d 348
• Parties: Mrs. Estelle Maddox DEASON, Individually and as Natural Tutrix of Her Minor Children, Peggy Joyce Deason et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, The GREYHOUND CORPORATION et al., Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 348

106 So.2d 348

Mrs. Estelle Maddox DEASON, Individually and as Natural Tutrix of Her Minor Children, Peggy Joyce Deason et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees The GREYHOUND CORPORATION et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 4648.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

Oct. 8, 1958.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 21, 1958.

Borron, Owen, Borron, & Delahaye, Baton Rouge, Stafford & Pitts, Alexandria, for appellants.

Durrett, Hardin, Hunter, Dameron & Fritchie, Baton Rouge, for appellees.

ELLIS, Judge.

On the morning of July 14, 1955, Marcus C. Deason boarded the Greyhound bus on the outskirts of Centerville, Mississippi and paid a cash fare to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and at that time told the driver that he was en route to his home in Oakdale, Louisiana, and requested that the driver stop the bus when he met the Trailways bus on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, so that he could board the bus and continue his journey to his home in Oakdale. It was shown that Deason's wife had previously made a trip to visit him in Centerville, Mississippi and upon her return had learned that the Greyhound bus arrived in Baton Rouge too late to make connections with the Trailways bus, and so notified her husband to make such a request. Just after the Greyhound bus went under the overpass, which is on the Airline Highway, its driver, James W. Pouns, one of the defendants herein, saw the Trailways bus approximately 400 feet south at the traffic light in the intersection of West Mason and Scenic Highway. Thereupon, he gave an adopted signal which consisted of flashing of the lights on his bus to the Trailways driver which signified to the bus driver of Trailways that he had a passenger who wished to board the Trailways bus. The driver of the Trailways bus acknowledged the signal and began slowing down in order to stop and pick up the passenger. The Greyhound bus was stopped on the Scenic Highway next to the right hand or west curb thereof, and Deason got off with his suitcase through the front right hand door and to the front of the bus and started across Scenic Highway in order to board the Trailways bus on the opposite side thereof. This highway has four lanes which are each ten feet wide, with a neutral ground six feet wide in the center. When Deason reached a point estimated by the witnesses as being six to eight feet west of the neutral ground he was struck by the truck belonging to the defendant Porter Kent and being driven by the defendant Rudolph Knight. Deason died on May 26, 1956, from the serious injuries which he received on July 14, 1955.

The present suit was filed by his widow and children against the Greyhound Corporation, James W. Pouns, the driver of the Greyhound bus, Continental Southern Lines, Inc., hereinafter referred to as Trailways, Sherman Frank, driver of the Trailways bus, Porter Kent, owner of the truck which struck the deceased, Marcus C. Deason, Rudolph Knight, driver of the Kent truck, and the Canal Insurance Company, insurer of the Kent truck.

Plaintiffs alleged in their petition that the defendants were guilty of the following negligence and we quote:

'35. Plaintiff alleges that the accident and the resulting injuries to and death of Marcus C. Deason and damages and expenses were due to the combined and concurrent negligence of James W. Pouns, Sherman Franks, and Rudolph Knight; the combined negligence of each is set forth hereinafter.

'36. James W. Pouns, the driver of the Greyhound bus, was guilty of concurrent negligence proximately causing the accident and the resulting injuries, death, damages and expenses in the commission or omission of the following acts, all of which were and are imputable to his employer, defendant, The Greyhound Corporation:

'(a) In failing to see that Marcus C. Deason was safely transferred from the Greyhound bus to the Trailways bus;

'(b) In stopping the Greyhound bus for the transfer of Marcus C. Deason in the middle of a block and particularly in the west lane of south bound traffic on Scenic Highway, in violation of the ordinance of the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when he knew or should have known that parking the bus in such a position was prohibited because the front of his bus was parked within a few feet of a posted sign reading 'No Parking on Pavement.';

'(c) In failing to discharge Marcus C. Deason for the transfer approximately sixty yards south of the location selected for the transfer when he knew or should have known that at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Mason Street there was a traffic control signal light where the transfer could have been made in safety;

'(d) In signaling the Trailways bus to stop in the middle of the block;

'(e) In parking the Greyhound bus in such a position with reference to the Trailways bus as to extend an implied invitation to Marcus C. Deason to cross Scenic Highway in front of the Greyhound bus in safety, and in both impliedly and expressly advising and inviting Marcus C. Deason to cross immediately in front of the Greyhound bus;

'(f) In failing to warn Marcus C. Deason of the danger from overtaking southbound traffic when he knew or should have known of such danger inherent in the position selected to make the transfer;

'(g) In failing to keep a proper lookout for overtaking southbound traffic from the vantage point of height in the Greyhound bus and to warn Marcus C. Deason of any traffic approaching when he knew or should have known that the position of Marcus C. Deason to observe overtaking traffic was an unfavorable one due to the height and width of the bus and its obstruction of the highway and he knew or should known that Marcus C. Deason was depending and had a right to depend upon both bus drivers to see that he was safely transferred from one bus to the other;

'(h) In the event he saw the approaching truck in failing to warn Marcus C. Deason of the vehicle approaching from the rear of the bus and toward the path to be taken by Marcus C. Deason in making the transfer from the Greyhound bus to the Trailways bus;

'(i) In failing to give signals to overtaking vehicles of the transfer being made across Scenic Highway so as to permit the transfer to be made in safety;

'(j) In being otherwise guilty of negligence proximately causing and contributing to said accident, particularly, in failing to take the necessary precautions to see that when Marcus C. Deason accepted the advice and invitation to make the transfer from the Greyhound bus to the Trailways bus across Scenic Highway he could do so in safety.

'37. Sherman Franks, the driver of the Trailways bus, was guilty of concurrent negligence proximately causing the accident and the resulting injuries, death, damages, and expenses, in the commission or omission of the following acts, all of which were and are imputable to his employer, defendant, Continental Southern Lines, Inc.;

'(a) In stopping the Trailways bus in the middle of the block to make the transfer of the passenger to the Trailways bus from the Greyhound bus;

'(b) In failing to stop the Trailways bus at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Mason Street upon receiving the signal from the Greyhound bus driver that a transfer was to be made when he knew or should have known that traffic at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Mason Street was controlled by a signal light and the transfer could have been made there in safety;

'(c) In stopping the Trailways bus in the east lane of the two northbound traffic lanes of Scenic Highway in violation of the provisions of the City Ordinances of the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana;

'(d) In stopping the Trailways bus in such a position as to grant an implied invitation to Marcus C. Deason to cross Scenic Highway to the front of the Greyhound bus when he knew or should have known that crossing Scenic Highway from the front of the Greyhound bus to the Trailways bus was subject to certain inherent dangers unless proper precautions were taken to maintain a proper lookout for the safety of Marcus C. Deason who would have an unfavorable vantage point to see overtaking traffic on Scenic Highway following the course or path selected for the transfer, and when he knew or should have known that the Greyhound driver would both impliedly and expressly advise and invite Marcus C. Deason to cross immediately in front of the Greyhound bus;

'(e) In the event he could not for some reason make the transfer at the intersection of Scenic Highway and Mason Street he should have stopped his bus so that the front of the Trailways bus was to the rear of the Greyhound bus and the path or course of the transfer would have been to the rear of the Greyhound bus rather than to the front of the Greyhound bus and thus there would not have been in invitation to Marcus C. Deason to cross to the front of the Greyhound bus in order to make the transfer;

'(f) In failing to warn Marcus C. Deason of the approach of overtaking traffic from the rear of the Greyhound bus when he was in a position easily to ascertain said danger and he knew or should have known that Marcus C. Deason was in an unfavorable vantage point to see overtaking and approaching traffic because of the position of the Greyhound bus which was parked in violation of the ordinances of the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and which because of its height and width obstructed the view of Marcus C. Deason, and when he knew or should have known that Marcus C. Deason was depending and had a right to depend upon both bus drivers to see that he was safely transferred from one bus to the other;

'(g) In attempting to make the transfer at all at the location and under the conditions prevailing and in the manner chosen for the transfer;

'(h) In failing to choose a location for the safe loading of a passenger;

'(i) In being otherwise guilty of negligence causing and contributing to said accident, particularly, in failing to take the necessary precautions to see that when Marcus C. Deason accepted the expressed and implied...