Guin v. State Through Dept. of Highways

• Decision Date: 24 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. 6486,6486
• Citation: 360 So.2d 1185
• Parties: Sadie GUIN, Individually and as natural tutrix of the minor, Wanda Coleen Guin and Kenneth Guin, Individually, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. STATE of Louisiana Through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1185

360 So.2d 1185

Sadie GUIN, Individually and as natural tutrix of the minor Wanda Coleen Guin and Kenneth Guin, Individually Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. STATE of Louisiana Through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 6486.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana,Third Circuit.

May 24, 1978.

Writ Refused July 3, 1978.

Daniel E. Broussard, Jr., Stephen E. Everett, Gold, Little, Simon, Weems & Bruser; Henry B. Bruser, III, Alexandria, for plaintiffs-appellants.

William J. Doran, Jr., Baton Rouge, for defendants-appellees.

Before GUIDRY, FORET and CUTRER, JJ.

GUIDRY, Judge.

This is a companion case to J-M Poultry Packing Co., Ltd. v. Allstate Insurance Company, our Docket No. 6487, 360 So.2d 1187, Guin et al. v. Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Co. of Wisconsin et al., our Docket No. 6488, 360 So.2d 1187, and, Guin, et al. v. Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Co. of Wisconsin et al., our Docket No. 6489, 360 So.2d 1188. We render separate decisions in each of these cases this date.

These four cases arise out of a vehicular accident which occurred on the Monette Ferry Bridge, Natchitoches Parish, in the early morning hours on December 27, 1975, when a pickup truck driven by Marion S. Guin collided head-on with a tractor-trailer truck driven by Lawrence R. Lemoine. Rodney Dale Guin and Gordon G. Guin were riding as guest passengers in the pickup truck. The tractor-trailer truck was owned by J-M Poultry Packing Company, Ltd. Only Lawrence R. Lemoine survived the accident. The surviving widows and children of the decedents filed wrongful death and survivor actions against several defendants, including the Louisiana Department of Highways (hereafter Department). J-M Poultry filed suit seeking recovery for the physical damage to its truck.

Prior to trial plaintiffs' claims in all four suits as against all defendants, other than the Department, were settled as a result of which all four suits were dismissed, except insofar as the Department is concerned.

The evidence adduced at trial reflects no genuine dispute as to the following facts. The accident occurred at approximately 5:00 a. m., December 27, 1975, on the Monette Ferry bridge when the tractor-trailer truck, proceeding in a south bound direction, collided head-on with the north bound Guin pickup truck in the south bound lane of traffic. At the time of collision the surface or deck of the Monette Ferry bridge was icy, the icy condition having occurred sometime after 1:00 a. m. and prior to 5:00 a. m. Icing conditions were not present on the highway leading to or from the bridge nor were such conditions present on other bridges in the area, other than perhaps the Grand Ecore bridge, also located in Natchitoches Parish. The last U.S. Weather Bureau forecast prior to the time of accident for the area including Natchitoches Parish, called for clear to partly cloudy skies with lows near 30 and variable mostly west winds 5 to 10 miles per hour. The forecast did not warn of the possibility of frost or icing conditions. Some several hours following issuance of the forecast the skies cleared, the wind went dead calm, the temperature dropped to 31o , and the dew point became ideal for the formation of ice. Under the conditions last referred to, considering that the Monette Ferry bridge is located in a small valley bounded north and south by large hills, a meteorological phenomenon takes place known as the "orographic effect". Simply stated the phenomenon occurs because cold air is denser than warn air and it will flow downhill; the...