Geeck v. Jahncke Service, Inc.
| Decision Date | 07 June 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 4488,4488 |
| Citation | 249 So.2d 241 |
| Parties | Thomas W. GEECK, Sr., d/b/a Thomas Geeck Truck Service v. JAHNCKE SERVICE, INC., et al. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Dodd, Hirsch, Barker, Meunier, Boudreaux & Lamy, Harold J. Lamy, New Orleans, for Thomas Geeck, plaintiff-appellant.
Lemle, Kelleher, Kohlmeyer, Matthews & Schumacher, Paul B. Deal, New Orleans, for Bienvenue Harbor, Inc., Marinas, Inc., and Ins. Co. of North America, defendant-appellees.
Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles, John F. Tooley, Jr., New Orleans, for Jahncke Service, Inc. and the Employers Liability Assurance Corp., Ltd., defendants-appellees.
Before SAMUEL, GULOTTA, and BOUTALL, JJ.
This suit involves a claim for damages to a truck as well as loss of income from its use as a result of an accident which occurred while the vehicle was being driven by an employee of plaintiff.
Thomas W. Geeck, Sr., doing business as Thomas Geeck Truck Service, filed suit against Jahncke Service, Inc., a contractor, hereinafter referred to as Jahncke, and Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, its insurer, as well as against Bienvenue Harber, Inc., and Marinas, Inc., owners of a seaway marina under construction, hereinafter referred to as Marina, and their insurer, the Insurance Company of North America.
The original claim included Mark C. Smith and Sons, Inc., as defendant. However, at the outset of the proceedings, plaintiff voluntarily by oral motion dismissed his claim against this defendant.
Marina and its insurer filed a third-party demand against Jahncke. Jahncke and its insurer filed a reconventional demand and third-partied Marina and its insurer. The trial court ruled in favor of defendants dismissing plaintiff's suit at plaintiff's cost and rejected both third party demands at third party plaintiffs' costs.
The facts are that Paul Melcher, an employee of the plaintiff, was driving a tandem dump truck on Louisiana State Highway No. 47, commonly known as Paris Road, at approximately 12:00 Noon on January 22, 1969, going in an easterly or northeasterly direction toward Lake Ponchartrain in St. Bernard Parish.
At that time, Marina and Jahncke had under construction, pursuant to a written contract, a seaway marina. The marina was being constructed approximately 1,000 feet 1 off Paris Road. In connection with the marina, a mud ramp or road from Paris Road across a ditch and over an adjacent road bed to the marina site was being constructed. At the point where the ramp or road connected with Paris Road, there was an accumulation of water resulting from rain that had occurred earlier on the same day of the accident which covered the road approximately to the center line. The evidence indicated that there were also large potholes in the highway in the particular area of the ramp.
The driver of the truck was proceeding at a speed of approximately 35 or 40 miles per hour, which was within the speed limit, 2 however, which was also the maximum capable speed of the vehicle. When he reached the flooded area of the highway at the entrance to the mud ramp, mud and water was sprayed on the windshield of the truck, completely covering the windshield and blinding the view of the driver, thus causing the truck to go out of control, off the right side of the highway onto the soft shoulder. The truck slid for approximately 150 feet on the shoulder, whereupon it struck a telephone pole, turned over on its left side, and then slid for approximately another 150 feet. The driver of the damaged truck testified that the mud and water covering his windshield was caused by a splash from his vehicle as it hit the mud puddle as well as from an oncoming truck approaching from the opposite direction which passed him at the point where the highway was flooded.
Plaintiff contends that the accident and damage to his...
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...of Ghio while Ghio is acting within their employ. Daughdrill v. Diamond M. Drilling Co., 447 F.2d 781 (CA 5—1971); Geeck v. Jahncke Service, Inc., 249 So.2d 241 (La.App.—1971). No where in the evidence is it seriously contested that Ghio was acting outside the employ of Bache when he commit......
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Shroyer v. Grush
...to that which would make it possible for them to stop within the distance illuminated by their headlights. They cite Geeck v. Jahncke, 249 So.2d 241 (La.App. 4th Cir.1971) for the proposition that drivers cannot be allowed to drive at the posted speed limit under all conditions. The Geeck c......
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...the defect or hazard, Bourgeois v. Louisiana Department of Highways, 255 So.2d 861 (La.App., 4th Cir. 1972); Geeck v. Jahncke Service, Inc., 249 So.2d 241 (La.App., 4th Cir. 1971). For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. All costs of this appeal are assessed a......
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