Hopper v. Shreveport Rys. Co.

• Decision Date: 05 April 1951
• Docket Number: No. 7645,7645
• Citation: Hopper v. Shreveport Rys. Co., 51 So.2d 845 (La. App. 1951)
• Parties: HOPPER v. SHREVEPORT RYS. CO.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana

Page 845

51 So.2d 845

HOPPER v. SHREVEPORT RYS. CO.

No. 7645.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 5, 1951.

Rehearing Denied April 27, 1951.

Bryan E. Bush and Wells & Pugh, all of Shreveport, for appellant.

Freyer, Goode, Nelson & Freyer, Shreveport, for appellee.

HARDY, Judge.

This is a suit for damages resulting from personal injuries claimed to have been sustained by plaintiff while a paying passenger on one of defendant's trolley busses. After trial there was judgment in favor of defendant rejecting plaintiff's demands, from which plaintiff has appealed.

On the afternoon of September 17, 1949, plaintiff boarded, in the downtown section of the City of Shreveport, one of defendant's trolley busses, operating on what is known as the Cedar Grove line, paying her fare as she entered the bus, and seating herself in the first seat on the left hand side facing the front of the bus.

As the bus proceeded south on Southern Avenue and approached the driveway entrance of the Uncle Joe Bottling Company situated on the west side of said street, the bus driver noted the presence of a pickup truck which had come to a stop at or near the center of the street on the east side thereof, preparatory to turning left into the driveway of the bottling company's premises. Concededly the driver of the truck was waiting for the passage of the bus before completing his turn. While so stopped, and as the bus was approaching, another vehicle proceeding north on Southern Avenue crashed into the rear end of the halted truck. The force of the impact, as may best be concluded from the testimony, threw the front wheels of the truck slightly across the approximate center of the street. Perceiving the occurrence of the related incident the driver of defendant's bus swerved his vehicle sharply to the right, and suddenly and sharply applied his brakes, which latter action threw plaintiff to the floor of the bus, inflicting the injuries for which redress is here sought.

The weather at the time was clear and dry. There was no traffic congestion in the vicinity and there were no cars parked at the curb on either side of Southern Avenue. It is quite conclusively established and admitted by the driver of the bus that he had more than ample room, by swerving slightly to the right, to avoid any possibility of collision with the truck in the center of the street. Indeed, it is established that by his action in swerving his bus the driver easily avoided a collision.

Plaintiff was not thrown from her seat by the swerve of the bus in which she was riding but she was precipitated to the floor as the result of the driver's urgent application of brakes, by reason of which he brought the bus sharply to a stop within one or two car lengths past the bottling company's driveway.

There is no question as to the law involved in the instant case. Plaintiff having shown an accident and injury while a paying passenger on defendant's public carrier bus, accompanied by the establishment of facts sufficient to show some negligence, has charged defendant with the burden of exonerating itself from the imputation of actionable negligence.

As we appreciate the facts of the...