Greyhound Lines v. Noller, 4206.

• Decision Date: 18 January 1930
• Docket Number: No. 4206.,4206.
• Citation: 36 F.2d 443
• Parties: GREYHOUND LINES, Inc., v. NOLLER.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

36 F.2d 443 (1929)

GREYHOUND LINES, Inc., v. NOLLER.

No. 4206.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

December 5, 1929.

Rehearing Denied January 18, 1930.

W. J. McDonald, of East St. Louis, Ill., for appellant.

James G. Burnside, of Vandalia, Ill., for appellee.

Before ALSCHULER, EVANS, and PAGE, Circuit Judges.

PAGE, Circuit Judge.

March 9, 1928, about 7:15 p. m., an Oakland car, headed east, with front but no rear lights burning, was parked on the south side of an east and west country highway, partially off of an 18-foot concrete pavement. Appellee was driving west, on the north side of the road, in a Studebaker car, with its lights on. Appellant's bus, with a capacity of 29 people, and carrying 10 passengers, in charge of two drivers, one at the wheel and one in the middle of the long rear seat, was going east on the south side of the pavement, with all lights on.

A Chrysler car, following the bus, turned to the left, passed the bus, cut in ahead of it, and stopped suddenly. The bus turned to the left, when, as appellee testified, the front of the bus was only 10 or 12 feet from his car, and the left front fender of the bus struck the Studebaker car, on the south side, near the rear end.

The judgment is for $6,750 for personal injuries to appellee and damages to his car.

In our view of this case, it is only necessary to consider one question — the negligence of appellant.

Appellant admits that the collision occurred while the bus was on the wrong side of the road, but urges that it was confronted by an emergency that required an instantaneous choice and immediate action.

Appellant's evidence shows that the bus was going not over 25 or 30 miles per hour; that the Chrysler, after passing the bus, turned back to the south side of the road, so close to the bus that it just missed the front of it, and ran only 40 or 50 feet before it stopped suddenly, and without any signal; that the bus was about its length behind the Chrysler when the latter stopped; that, because of a concrete abutment and a ditch, a turn to the right could not have been safely made; that the bus was so close to the Chrysler that it could not be stopped without colliding with the Chrysler; that, although the driver saw appellant's car coming, he thought there was a chance to get through without a collision.

Appellee testified that, when he first saw the Oakland, the Chrysler, and the bus, the Oakland was three-quarters of a mile west of him, and the Chrysler and the bus were about half a mile west of the Oakland; that he was going not over 20 miles per hour, and that the Chrysler and the bus were racing, side by side, at a speed of 55 or 60 miles per hour; in other words, that the bus was going at practically three times his speed. The improbability of appellee being able to estimate fairly the speed of the bus, which was a mile and a quarter away and coming toward him, down a...