MacFARLAND v. United States, 6372.

• Decision Date: 11 September 1952
• Docket Number: No. 6372.,6372.
• Citation: 198 F.2d 764
• Parties: MacFARLAND v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

198 F.2d 764 (1952)

MacFARLAND v. UNITED STATES.

No. 6372.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 17, 1952.

Decided September 11, 1952.

William J. Cocke, Asheville (W. M. Styles, Asheville, on the brief), for appellant.

Thomas A. Uzzell, Jr., U. S. Atty., Asheville, for appellee.

Before PARKER, Chief Judge, and SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges.

PARKER, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the United States in an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1346, 2671-2680, to recover damages on account of wrongful death. Plaintiff is the administrator of the estate of Robert L. MacFarland, who was killed as the result of the collision of a motor bicycle which he was riding with a chain blocking a road which served as a private driveway on the grounds of the United States Veterans Facilities at Oteen, North Carolina. Plaintiff claimed that there was negligence on the part of officers of the government in the maintenance of this road block which caused the death of decedent. The trial judge held against plaintiff on this contention and found that the death of decedent resulted from his negligent operation of the motor bicycle.

The fatal accident occurred around 7 o'clock P.M., January 26, 1950, while decedent, a young man twenty-one years of age, was riding his motor bicycle to a Boy Scout meeting which he was to attend on the Oteen reservation or to the home of a friend who lived near the meeting place. The chain into which he ran was stretched across a paved driveway which ran parallel with the Riceville Road on the reservation and to the rear of residences fronting on that road. The driveway was an open public road for a short distance after leaving the Riceville Road near a building maintained as nurses' quarters, but south of this building was used as a private or service driveway for the residences fronting on the Riceville Road. The part used as a service driveway was blocked off by a chain stretched between posts, with stop signs to the right and left. To the right was a large white sign 2 by 3½ feet bearing the words in large black letters, "Stop — Do Not Enter". To the left was a standard highway stop sign painted yellow with black lettering. Suspended from the chain was an additional sign 8 by 18 or 20 inches in size, painted white and with the word "Stop" in black lettering. Plaintiff contends that this sign had become detached from the chain; but the judge found to the contrary and...