Galloway v. Singing River Elec. Power Ass'n, Inc., 42583

• Decision Date: 06 May 1963
• Docket Number: No. 42583,42583
• Citation: 247 Miss. 308,152 So.2d 710
• Parties: Willie Joe GALLOWAY v. SINGING RIVER ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION, INC.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 710

152 So.2d 710

247 Miss. 308

Willie Joe GALLOWAY v. SINGING RIVER ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION, INC.

No. 42583.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 6, 1963.

Cumbest & Cumbest, Pascagoula, Clyde O. Hurlbert, Gulfport, for appellant.

Merle F. Palmer, Pascagoula, Daniel, Coker & Horton, Fred J. Lotterhos, Jr., Jackson, for appellee.

GILLESPIE, Justice.

Plaintiff-appellant sued defendant-appellee for personal injuries sustained by electric shock. Upon conclusion of the evidence for both parties the trial court granted appellee a peremptory instruction. Judgment was entered for defendant and plaintiff appealed.

Appellee is an electric cooperative engaged in the distribution of electrical energy to its members. In 1939 it obtained an easement to construct and maintain power lines across the Stringfellow property at Escatawpa, Mississippi, and constructed a power line across a portion of said property. It is not clear whether there was a residence on the property at that time, but if not, one was built thereon sometime later. This residence burned about 1956 and was replaced by the present house which was being used as a residence by Milmon W. Stringfellow and his family on February 7, 1959, when the accident involved in this case occurred. The Stringfellows had maintained a television antenna at the residence since about 1957, but increased the height by 15 feet to a total of 27.5 feet about three months before February 7, 1959.

The Stringfellow residence was a one-story frame building facing Griffin Road, which was about thirty feet from the house. There were no power line poles on the Stringfellow property. There was a pole on each side with the wires passing across the front of the Stringfellow property between the house and the road. The perpendicular plane of these power lines was 11.5 feet from the northeast corner of the house, and 17.1 feet from the northwest corner. The lower neutral wire was 20 feet 10 inches from the ground. The top wire carrying 7600 volts of electricity was 23 feet 5 inches from the ground. These wires were not insulated. The television antenna was 27 1/2 feet high. Affixed to the top of the antenna mast were horizontal rods extending about half the distance between the antenna mast and the power lines. The bottom end of the antenna mast rested on the ground and the mast was fastened to the eave near the northeast corner of the house.

Appellant had visited the Stringfellows several times a year for several years but he had not noticed the power lines running across the front yard. After dark on February 7, 1959, Stringfellow asked appellant to assist in lowering the television antenna in order to repair it. Appellant placed his automobile so that the lights shone on the bottom of the antenna. The porch light was also turned on to furnish light. Stringfellow used a step ladder to reach and loosen the fastner holding the antenna mast to the house. Stringfellow had his foot against the bottom of the mast and both men were holding it, letting it down toward the power lines. The antenna came in contact with the power lines. Stringfellow was killed and appellant rendered unconscious.

The only assignment of error argued is that the trial court erred in granting a peremptory instruction for defenant-appellee. This assignment of error has three main points of inquiry.

Was compliance by the utility with the minimum safety requirements of the National Electric Safety Code conclusive on the question of due care?

The proof showed without dispute that the power lines were constructed across the Stringfellow property in accordance with a proper easement and that in constructing and maintaining said power lines appellee complied with the minimum requirements of the National Electric Safety Code. The Rural Electrification Administration prescribed standards for the construction and maintenance of power lines and the power lines in question complied with those requirements. The National Electric Safety Code was adopted by the Mississippi Publci Service Commission as guiding principles for overhead line construction practice.

The National Electric Safety Code contains minimum requirements and constitutes guiding principles in the construction and maintenance of electric power lines. It is not conclusive on the question of due care by the utility. Compliance with the safety code is a relevant fact on the question of due care. If appellee had failed to comply with the minimum requirements of the National Electric Safety Code it would probably be chargeable with negligence per se, and compliance relieves the utility of that charge. We hold that compliance with the minimum standards contained in the National Electric Safety Code is not conclusive on the question of due care when the particular circumstances justify a finding of lack of due care. Elliott v. Black River Electric Cooperative, 233 S.C. 233, 104 S.E.2d 357, 74 A.L.R.2d 907; Anno. 69 A.L.R. 127, et seq. Whether a utility is...