Meeks v. McBeath

• Decision Date: 10 June 1957
• Docket Number: No. 40508,40508
• Parties: Mrs. Gertrude MEEKS v. Zan McBEATH.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 791

95 So.2d 791

231 Miss. 504

Mrs. Gertrude MEEKS v. Zan McBEATH.

No. 40508.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 10, 1957.

Clayton Lewis, Philadelphia, Snow & Covington, Meridian, for appellant.

Sanford & Alford, Philadelphia, Pierce & Waller, Jackson, for appellee.

LEE, Justice.

Mrs. Gertrude Meeks, for herself and two daughters, being the mother and sisters, respectively, of John W. Meeks, deceased, and his sole heirs at law, brought suit against Zan McBeath and Roger Lee Welch to recover damages for the death of the decedent.

Under the pleadings, the theory of the plaintiff was that the Chrysler automobile, driven by McBeath, crossed over to the wrong lane and collided with the truck in which the decedent was riding, and that McBeath was guilty of negligence, as a matter of law. On the contrary, it was the theory of McBeath that he was suddenly faced with an emergency, not of his own making, and that he reasonably thought it was necessary to apply his brakes and turn to the left in order to avoid a collision, and that he was not guilty of any negligence. There was no plea by Welch, who was a minor.

The jury found a verdict for the defendant, and a motion for a new trial having been overruled, Mrs. Meeks appealed.

The appellant strenuously insists that she was entitled to her requested peremptory instruction, and the court erred in refusing the same. She also assigns a number of other alleged errors.

The collision of the two motor vehicles occurred on State Highway No. 492. This road runs east and west and the blacktop pavement is 20 feet wide. From the point of the collision west, there is a slight curve to the right as well as a slight descent. The decedent was riding in a 1 1/2-ton Dodge truck, loaded with pulpwood, which was being driven by J. T. Cannon and was proceeding west. Roger Lee Welch, driving a Ford automobile, was traveling east. Behind the Ford, Zan McBeath, in a Chrysler automobile, was also proceeding east.

Roger Page had caught a ride with Welch in the Ford, and wished to get off at a place on the road where a house was being built. For that purpose, Welch turned to the right and stopped. The truck and Chrysler thereafter collided. All of the evidence showed that the point of impact was from 4 to 6 feet north of the yellow line, which was in the center of the road. It was slightly west of the back end of the Ford. The truck was in its proper lane at the time. The Chrysler was out of its proper lane, and partly in the truck's lane. All of the evidence further showed that the left wheels of the Ford were from 2 to 2 1/2 feet on the pavement on the south side, and the balance of the vehicle was off the pavement.

According to the evidence for the plaintiff, the truck was not exceeding a speed of 40 miles an hour; the Chrysler was traveling between 50 and 60 miles an hour; the Chrysler suddenly came over from the right lane into the left, struck the truck about the left front wheel, and caused it to turn over and kill Meeks; and, as a result of the collision, the Chrysler was slued around and against the Ford.

Two patrolmen made an investigation before the vehicles were moved. They found the Chrysler crosswise the road and against the Ford. Skid marks of the Chrysler commenced 25 steps west of the point of impact and continued to the place of collision. They cut across the center line 34 feet west of the point of impact.

Robert Page testified that Welch, as he approached the stopping place, had his lights blinking for a right turn, and that the lights were still blinking when he got out and walked around the car after the collision.

The overwhelming weight of the evidence leads inescapably to the conclusion that McBeath, because of his speed, did not stop in the distance between his car and the parked Ford; and that, instead of turning to the right, or keeping straight ahead and hitting the Ford, he chose to go to the left, perhaps thinking that he could pass between the parked Ford and the oncoming truck.

McBeath did not testify. Section 1690, Code of 1942; Cross v. Frost, Miss., 86 So.2d 296. But Theo Henry, a distant cousin, riding in the Chrysler, testified that McBeath was driving 45 to 50 miles an hour; that Welch gave no signal but stopped in front of them; that McBeath put on his brakes but could not stop; that he bumped into the Ford and ricocheted to the other side of the road and stopped; and that the truck ran into the front of the Chrysler. He further said that he had seen the truck as it was approaching about 300 feet away; that Welch, when he stopped the Ford, was 'about 30 yards ahead. 25 or 30.' When he was asked 'and you were 90 feet behind him when he stopped and you couldn't stop within 90 feet without running into him, could you?' He replied, 'No, sir.'

Thus the substance of Henry's testimony was that he did not see the Ford blinking its signal lights for a stop or right turn, but that he actually saw the Ford as it was stopping 90 feet ahead of the Chrysler; that McBeath applied his brakes, but that he could not stop; that the Chrysler bumped into the Ford and then glanced past it into the path of the truck, where instead of hitting the truck, it was hit by the truck.

Obviously Meeks was guilty of no negligence. Mississippi Central Railroad Co. v. Roberts, 173 Miss. 487, 160 So. 604; Thomas v. City of Lexington, 168 Miss. 107, 150 So. 816;...