Munford, Inc. v. Grier
| Decision Date | 13 November 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,No. 51152,51152,2 |
| Citation | 136 Ga.App. 537,221 S.E.2d 700 |
| Parties | MUNFORD, INC., et al. v. Loretta M. GRIER |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Martin, Snow, Grant & Napier, Cubbedge Snow, Wendell L. Bowden, Macon, for appellants.
White & Jewett, Robert John White, Atlanta, George N. Skene, Macon, for appellee.
Loretta Grier sued Judy Ann Smith and Munford, Inc. in Bibb Superior Court alleging that she received serious injuries when struck by an automobile driven by defendant Smith. The plaintiff alleged that after having transacted business at Munford's Majik Market Store and while walking along the sidewalk in the vicinity of the front door en route to her car which was parked in the store's parking lot 'the defendant, . . . Smith, drove a 1956 Chevrolet Sedan from the parking area onto the sidewalk, up to and against the plaintiff's body crushing plaintiff against the outside wall of the store.'
She further alleged that Munford had constructed and occupied this store and parking lot for many years and knew that the lot and sidewalk was constructed and maintained in a hazardous and dangerous manner 'in that there was no stopping device embedded in the parking lot asphalt which would prevent motorists from driving onto the sidewalk and thereby cause injuries to pedestrians . . .' and that Munford had prior notice of the tendency of the motorists to drive from the parking area onto the sidewalk.
The plaintiff charged that Munford was negligent in failing to exercise ordinary care to keep its premises and approaches safe for customers. She charged that the defendant Smith was negligent 'in failing to have her vehicle under control, and in driving her vehicle onto a sidewalk intended for pedestrian traffic only.'
To interrogatories served by the plaintiff, Munford filed sworn answers stating that the sidewalk in front of the store was eight feet wide and six and one-half inches higher than the level of the parking area; the sidewalk was of concrete, clean, level and without defect or obstructions; the parking area sloped gradually away from the sidewalk; Munford had occupied this store together with the sidewalk and parking area since the early part of 1968. On one other occasion, to-wit, April 30, 1971, an automobile had been driven onto and over the sidewalk into the front of the store.
The defendant Munford, Inc. filed its motion for summary judgment relying upon the pleadings and its sworn answers to the interrogatories. Prior to hearing, the plaintiff filed the affidavit of P....
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...at an outdoor ordering window when a vehicle lurched into him and there was no wheel block before the curb); Munford, Inc. v. Grier, 136 Ga.App. 537, 221 S.E.2d 700, 701 (1975) (holding that it was an issue for the jury to determine whether defendant was negligent in the maintenance of the ......
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...N.E.2d 451, 455–456 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007) (no evidence of prior incidents; accident unforeseeable). See also Munford, Inc. v. Grier, 136 Ga. App. 537, 537–538, 221 S.E.2d 700 (1975) (accident foreseeable where defendant was aware of similar accidents at stores); Ray v. Cock Robin, Inc., 10 I......
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...decisions that the foreseeability issue is one to be determined by the jury. See Grissett; Johnson; McAllen; Munford, Inc. v. Grier, 136 Ga.App. 537, 221 S.E.2d 700 (Ga.App.1975); Thompson; Barker. There was ample like expert testimony in the record in this case, in my view, to create a jur......
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