Gates v. Plummer

• Citation: 291 S.W. 816
• Decision Date: 07 March 1927
• Docket Number: (No. 245.)
• Parties: GATES v. PLUMMER et al.
• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas

291 S.W. 816 GATES
v.
PLUMMER et al. (No. 245.) Supreme Court of Arkansas. March 7, 1927.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Pulaski County; Richard M. Mann, Judge.

Action by Dale Plummer and others against Victor A. Gates. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

T. D. Wynne, of Fordyce, for appellant.

Sam T. & Tom Poe, of Little Rock, for appellees.

SMITH, J.

This suit was brought to recover damages to compensate an injury sustained by Dale Plummer, a boy 11 years old, as the result of being struck by an automobile driven by appellant Gates, the defendant below. The injury occurred on the Galloway Pike east of Little Rock about 10 o'clock on the morning of February 10, 1925. It was a cold day, and a strong wind was blowing. The road where the boy was struck runs east and

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west, and was perfectly straight for a mile. Appellee's father and some other men were at work on a house on the north side of the road. On the south side of the road opposite the house two automobiles were parked in close proximity to each other. The boy had been sent from the house where the men were at work to get an oil can out of one of the cars. He got the can, and was standing on the running board of the automobile when appellant approached in his car. Appellant admitted that he was driving 30 miles an hour, but the jury may have found that he was driving much faster, as one of the men working at the house testified that his attention was attracted to the car by its high speed.

Appellant admitted seeing the boy on the running board of the car, but he testified that he thought the boy was in a safe place, and he did not reduce his speed. He did blow his horn twice—the first time when he was about 150 yards from the parked cars, and the second time when about half that distance. The boy testified that, when he got the oil can for which he had been sent, he started walking across the road. He did not think any cars were coming. He took a "peep" in each direction as he started across the road, and did not see the approaching car. The boy had crossed the center line of the highway, and was on the north side of the road when he was struck, and the testimony shows there was space enough between the parked cars and the boy for appellant to have passed between the cars and the boy had his car been under control. Appellant testified that he turned to the left in an attempt to pass in front of the boy and thus avoid striking him. Appellant admitted that he did not...