Malone v. Greyhound Lines

• Citation: 22 S.W.2d 199
• Decision Date: 02 December 1929
• Docket Number: No. 16723.,16723.
• Parties: MALONE v. GREYHOUND LINES, Inc.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)

22 S.W.2d 199

MALONE v. GREYHOUND LINES, Inc.

No. 16723.

Kansas City Court of Appeals. Missouri.

December 2, 1929.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Cooper County; Henry J. Westhues, Judge.

"Not to be officially published."

Action by Beatrice Malone against the Greyhound Lines, Incorporated. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Pendleton & Martin, of Boonville, for appellant.

Trusty & Pugh, of Kansas City, for respondent.

BLAND, J.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries. Plaintiff recovered a verdict and judgment in the sum of $1,500.00. Defendant has appealed.

The facts show that defendant operates a public bus line between Kansas City and St. Louis; that plaintiff on the 12th day of July, 1928, was a passenger upon one of defendant's busses east bound from Kansas City; that when said bus arrived at a point about 62 miles east of the last mentioned place it collided with a truck belonging to the Iten Biscuit Company, resulting in plaintiff's injury. The witnesses vary somewhat as to the details of the occurrence in question, but there was evidence on the part of the plaintiff tending to show the following:

The collision occurred at the bottom of a hill sloping to the east. This was not a steep hill but was of such a character that the driver of the bus approaching the crest of the hill from the west could not see an automobile at the bottom of the hill by reason of the fact that the hill sloped to the west as well as to the east. It was raining and the pavement was very slick. A Hudson automobile had skidded off of the south side of the pavement of the highway at the bottom of the hill. The closest part of the Hudson car from the pavement was its rear which was about six feet therefrom. The driver of the truck of the Iten Biscuit Company had stopped his vehicle on the road that he might assist the driver of the Hudson in getting the latter's vehicle back upon the pavement. A rope had been attached connecting the Hudson car with the truck, the latter being west of the former, and on the south side of the pavement. About two feet of the rear end and about four feet of the front of the truck were on the pavement. About twenty feet west of the truck there was a Dodge car parked upon the south side of the pavement headed west. There was ample room for an automobile to pass on the pavement to the north of these three vehicles.

The distance between the crest of the hill and the Iten Biscuit Company's truck was from 200 to 500 feet. When defendant's bus came over the crest of the hill there was a Chrysler automobile going westwardly on the north side of the pavement at a rate of speed of about twenty to twenty-five miles per hour. There is a dispute in plaintiff's testimony as to the position of the Chrysler car at the time defendant's bus came over the crest of the hill, but there was testimony tending to show that it was mid-way between the truck and defendant's bus. If this was true, assuming that the distance between the crest of the hill and the truck was 500 feet, of course, there was ample room for defendant's bus to have passed to the rear of the Chrysler car on to the north side of the pavement and by the vehicles upon the south side of the highway without colliding with any of them.

There was testimony on the part of the plaintiff tending to show that the driver of the bus applied his brakes immediately upon coming over the crest of the hill which caused the locking of the wheels of his vehicle and the bus to skid resulting in his losing control of the same. The bus came down the hill "broad-side" striking the Chrysler car and knocking it off the pavement. The bus then struck the Dodge, turning it completely around and finally came in contact with the truck knocking it from the pavement. The glass in the bus was broken when it struck the last mentioned vehicle resulting in plaintiff receiving severe cuts.

There was other testimony on the part of the plaintiff that the driver of the bus did not immediately apply his brakes when he emerged from over the crest of the hill but that he sounded his horn. At this time he was going "straight" and continued to go "straight" before the bus started "wobbling." It was a second or more after the driver of the bus could have seen the situation before he applied his brakes causing the back end of his vehicle to sway and swerve.

There was testimony tending to show that the bus came over the hill at a rate of speed from forty-five to sixty miles per hour and that had the bus been going twenty-five or thirty miles per hour under the circumstances it would not have skidded when the brakes were applied; that if it had been going thirty miles per hour it could have been brought under control under the circumstances within a few feet.

On the part of the defendant the driver of the bus testified that the mechanical condition of the bus, including its brakes, were in good condition at the time; that the brakes consisted of but two on the rear wheels; that when he "topped" the hill (which he testified was a steep one) he saw the vehicles that we have described blocking the highway; that he was and had been running slowly and was behind time; that he was traveling at a rate of speed of about thirty-five miles per hour; that the pavement at the place of the accident was muddy and greasy; that the first thing he did when he saw the vehicles in front of him was to attempt to stop by applying his brakes; that the brakes had become hot by reason of the fact that he had been using them frequently on account of the slippery condition of the road that he had traveled from Kansas City; that...