Midwest Bus Lines, Inc. v. Williams
| Decision Date | 15 January 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 5--4363,5--4363 |
| Citation | 243 Ark. 854,422 S.W.2d 869 |
| Parties | MIDWEST BUS LINES, INC., T. O. Tyler and Larry Cooper, Appellants, v. Jeff WILLIAMS and Lola Williams, Appellees. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
S. Hubert Mayes Jr., and Barber, Henry, Thurman, McCaskill & Amsler, Little Rock, for appellants.
George J. Cambiano, Morrilton, for appellees.
These appeals by three codefendants are from adverse judgments in favor of appellees for alleged personal injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision. At the time of the incident out of which the action arose, appellees, husband and wife, were passengers on a bus of appellant Midwest Bus Lines, Inc., driven by appellant T. O. Tyler. A collision, on the night of December 17, 1966, between the bus and an automobile owned and operated by appellant Larry Cooper gave rise to the litigation.
Appellees' cause of action against Midwest was based on allegations that Tyler was driving at such a high rate of speed that he was unable to swerve the bus in order to avoid the collision; that he was not keeping a proper lookout; and that he failed to slow down, stop or swerve to avoid the impact. Their allegations as to Cooper were that he drove his vehicle into the proper lane for the bus which was proceeding in the opposite direction from that Cooper was traveling and that he failed to regain control of his vehicle and bring it back into its proper lane. Each of appellees sought recovery for physical pain and suffering and mental anguish, permanent partial disability, and past and future medical expenses.
Cooper denied the allegations of negligence as to him and alleged that any injuries suffered by appellees were caused by negligence of Tyler. Tyler and Midwest denied all allegations of appellees, but alleged that any injuries suffered by appellees were caused by the negligence of Cooper. They asserted that this consisted of his driving at an excessive rate of speed across the center line of the highway into the lane where the bus was properly proceeding and his failure to keep his vehicle under control, to keep a proper lookout, and to yield the right-of-way to the bus. They asked judgment against Cooper in the amount of any recovery against them, and Midwest cross complained, seeking recovery for damages to the bus. Cooper denied liability to the bus company and asked judgment over against the company for indemnity or contribution.
The case was submitted to a jury upon interrogatories. Responses of the jury showed that it found Cooper guilty, and Tyler not guilty, of negligence which was a proximate cause of the occurrence. It found Tyler guilty of failure to use the highest degree of care for the safety of appellees. It allocated responsibility for appellees' injuries--60% to Cooper and 40% to Tyler. It found the damages of appellee Jeff Williams to be $20,000, those of appellee Lola Williams to be $30,000, and those of the bus company to be $534.67.
Appellants Tyler and Midwest moved for an order directing that judgment be entered upon the verdict or that the special verdicts be set aside. Their motion was based upon contentions that responsibility for the occurrence should not have been apportioned by the jury and that appellees' complaint should be dismissed as to them upon the jury's findings, or, in the alternative, that they should have judgment against Cooper for any sums assessed against them in favor of the appellees. They also asked, alternatively, that the verdicts be set aside for inconsistency.
Cooper likewise moved for entry of judgment or the setting aside of the jury verdicts for inconsistency. He contended that judgment against him should be limited to 60% of the damages to the other parties.
The judgment entered allowed recovery of $12,000 from Cooper and $18,000 from Tyler and Midwest by Lola Williams. It awarded Jeff Williams $8,000 from Tyler and Midwest and $12,000 from Cooper. It provided that Midwest have full recovery from Cooper for the damages to its bus.
Midwest and Tyler appealed from the judgments against them. Cooper appealed only from the adverse judgments in favor of the Williamses. Tyler and Midwest rely upon five points for reversal. Cooper asserts four. We will discuss those necessary to our decision on these appeals, together with any which may be pertinent on the retrial ordered.
The first ground for reversal urged by Tyler and Midwest is the failure of the trial judge to direct a verdict in their favor. The evidence showed that Cooper was driving a Chevrolet automobile east on Highway #64 and that the bus was going west when they collided on a sharp 'S' curve on a steep hill about six miles west of Ozark. There is actually a series of three sharp curves in close succession. After the collisions, skid marks, debris and dirt were found over an area covering five or six feet on the pavement, centered about two feet north of the center line, with pieces scattered over the line. The Chevrolet, a total loss, was found 192 feet east of the debris in the highway, severely damaged on the left side from front to rear. The bus sustained damage to the left front and left side. The damage to the left front extended from a point about six inches to one foot left of the front headlight to the left corner and that to the left side extended from this corner three or four feet toward the rear of the bus. There were a white center line and double yellow lines extending the entire distance of the curve and hill. Skid or 'scuff' marks on the pavement extended a distance of 12 feet from the south lane across the center line into the westbound lane where the debris was lying. There were no other skid marks. The curve in the direction in which the bus was traveling was to its left. For eastbound traffic there is a fairly 'steep' curve to the right just before the point where this collision occurred. The investigating officer testified that scuff marks are generally caused by rear wheels of a vehicle and result from a cutting of its wheels while it is proceeding around a curve at a high rate of speed so as to cause the vehicle to slide. The bus was found by the officer 50 feet from the debris but the driver had pulled the bus up and backed it off the highway before his arrival.
Jeff Williams testified that he was watching traffic as he sat in the second seat back of the driver. His wife was asleep in the seat beside him. While he estimated the speed of the bus to be between 70 and 75 miles per hour at the time of the collision, his estimate was based entirely on the fact that the driver 'had his motor revved up.' He did not know what gear the bus was in or whether it was going uphill or downhill or traveling on a level or straight stretch. After he saw the lights of the approaching car through the bus windshield, the collision happened so quickly he did not have time to do anything or say anything to his wife or even to brace himself. He knew that either the bus or the car was over too far, but he couldn't tell which. He further testified that for a time before the collision, he could not see the terrain or telephone poles out the window. Earlier he had been able to see 'passing lights' along the way and the bus was passing them pretty fast. He had no way of knowing how fast the car was coming, but he said that it was at a high rate of speed and its headlights 'came up there pretty quick.' After he felt a bump and heard a noise, he saw Tyler wrestling with the wheel trying to get the bus stopped. There is some uncertainty whether his estimate of the distance required to stop the bus after the collision was 30, 40 or 50 feet, or 30, 40 or 50 steps. He could only see the back of the head and shoulders of the driver before the impact, but Tyler was looking out the front of the bus and his head was straight ahead. He could only guess that a lookout was being kept ahead because the driver followed the road from Morrilton to this point past Ozark.
Since these appellants offered evidence after their original motion for a directed verdict was overruled, we must give consideration to any such evidence as may be favorable to appellees in determining whether a verdict should have been directed at the conclusion of all the evidence. Ft. Smith Cotton Oil Co. v. Swift & Co., 197 Ark. 594, 124 S.W.2d 1. In addition to the testimony of Tyler, these appellants offered that of two passengers on the bus as to the cause of the collision. These witnesses located the bus in its proper lane at all times. One of them was sitting on the front seat with a clear view of the road ahead. He testified that the speed of the bus could not have been over 50 miles per hour...
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