Gurley v. Hardwick

• Decision Date: 24 September 1958
• Docket Number: No. 37311,No. 1,37311,1
• Parties: S. G. GURLEY et al. v. W. L. HARDWICK
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 53

106 S.E.2d 53

98 Ga.App. 334

S. G. GURLEY et al. v. W. L. HARDWICK.

No. 37311.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 1.

Sept. 24, 1958.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 16, 1958.

Syllabus by the Court

The trial judge erred in denying the motion for new trial.

William L. Hardwick filed a suit against George W. Miller, Georgia Power Company, and Silas G. Gurley.

The plaintiff's petition alleged in part that: George W. Miller is a resident of Fulton County, Georgia; Georgia Power Company is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Georgia and having its principal office and place of doing business in Fulton County, Georgia; Silas G. Gurley resides on Crabtree Lane in the City of Austell, Cobb County, Georgia; and for cause of action shows: that at or about 10:04 p. m. on December 28, 1956, it was raining at and near the intersection of Washington and Richardson Streets in the City of Atlanta, causing the streets to become wet and slippery; that at the time, date and place aforesaid the plaintiff was the owner of a 1951 Nash custom four door sedan automobile which was parked immediately adjacent to the curb, headed north, on the east side of Washington Street approximately fifty feet south of the southeast corner of the intersection of the said Washington and Richardson Streets, the streets being public streets in the City of Atlanta; that at all times herein stated Silas G. Gurley was the agent, servant, and employee of the defendant Georgia Power Company and was acting for the benefit of his employer and in the scope of his employment; that at the time, date and place Silas G. Gurley was driving a 1956 Ford pickup truck, the property of, and upon the business of his employer, Georgia Power Company, south on Washington Street at a rapid, reckless and immoderate speed without regard for the rights of others and without regard for the aforesaid conditions then existing and without having the vehicle under his immediate control and so drove the vehicle to, through and into the intersection of Washington and Richardson Streets where he collided with a 1954 Chevrolet sedan driven east on Richardson Street by George Miller; that at the time, date and place, George W. Miller was driving a 1954 Chevrolet east on Richardson Street at a rapid, reckless and immoderate speed without regard for the conditions then existing and without due care for the rights of others and without having the vehicle under his immediate control and so drove the vehicle to, through and into the intersection of Washington and Richardson Streets where he collided with the vehicle owned by Georgia Power Company, being driven south on Washington by Silas G. Gurley; that by reason of the impact and collision and immediately thereafter George W. Miller lost control of the vehicle he was driving and the vehicle, by reason of the negligent acts of George W. Miller and Silas G. Gurley, was forced, pushed, shoved and impelled over to the east side of Washington Street against a brick wall with great force and violence and from thence to, through, against and upon the vehicle of plaintiff's with such force that the plaintiff's vehicle was forced, pushed, shoved, and impelled backwards into a 1951 Chevrolet automobile parked immediately behind the plaintiff's automobile; that the proximate cause of the accident and the damage suffered by the plaintiff as a result thereof was the concurring acts of negligence of Silas G. Gurley, individually and as the employee, agent, and servant of Georgia Power Company, and of George W. Miller; that as a result of the collision the plaintiff was damaged in the sum of $550, the value of the plaintiff's automobile being $600 immediately before the collision and immediately thereafter being $50; the plaintiff was without fault in the premises and was in no wise contributorily negligent; that at the time and place there was a valid subsisting ordinance of the city of Atlanta governing the speed of motor vehicles which prohibited speeds in excess of 25 miles per hour, at the place of the collision to wit: Section 30.60 of the City of Atlanta; that at the time and place there was in existence a valid statute of the State of Georgia prohibiting the speed of vehicles over 35 miles per hour at the place of the collision, which place was in a business and residential district, and which prohibits the operation of a vehicle at a speed that is greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions then existing and requiring the driver of every vehicle to drive at an appropriately reduced speed when approaching and crossing an intersection and when special hazards exist by reason of weather or highway conditions; the statute has been codified and appears in the current annotated Code of Georgia, § 68-1626; that at the time and place defendant, Silas G. Gurley, was operating a 1956 Ford pickup truck, the property of, and upon the business of his employer, Georgia Power Company, at a speed in excess of the lawful speed of 25 miles per hour, as provided by an ordinance of the City of Atlanta, set forth in paragraph 4-a hereof and in excess of the maximum lawful speed, under optimum conditions, of 35 miles per hour, as provided by § 68-1626(b) of the 1933 Code of Georgia, as amended, hereinbefore set forth, to wit: at a speed of 50 miles per hour; that defendant, Silas G. Gurley, employee, agent, and servant of the defendant Georgia Power Company, was negligent in the following particulars: (a) that the defendant drove his vehicle...