Okla. Natural Gas Co. v. Smith, Case Number: 30140
| Court | Supreme Court of Oklahoma |
| Writing for the Court | PER CURIAM. |
| Citation | 119 P.2d 844,189 Okla. 690,1941 OK 387 |
| Parties | OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CO. v. SMITH |
| Decision Date | 18 November 1941 |
| Docket Number | Case Number: 30140 |
1941 OK 387
119 P.2d 844
189 Okla. 690
OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CO.
v.
SMITH
Case Number: 30140
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Decided: November 18, 1941
¶0 1. GAS--NEGLICENCE--EVIDENCE-- Action for damages resulting from collision with hazard maintained in highway as part of gas line-Verdict and judgment for plaintiff held not based on conjecture or speculation.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained as the result of a collision with a hazard constructed and maintained in a public highway as an incident to the operation of a gas line in said highway, evidence of the existence of such hazard and that it was the property of the company operating said gas line and of an attempt by the driver of a truck to avoid striking such hazard and of his failure to do so and of the consequent collision therewith is neither conjectural nor speculative.
2. SAME--Duty of care owed travelers by gas company maintaining lines in highway.
The duty which a gas company, using the public highway in the operation of its business, owes to travelers on said highway is to construct and maintain its lines where it traverses such highway in such a manner as to prevent them becoming a hazard to travelers on the highway.
Underwood, Canterbury, Pinson & Lupardus, of Tulsa, for plaintiff in error.
R. F. Barry, of Oklahoma City, for defendant error.
PER CURIAM.
¶1 This action was instituted by the defendant in error, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, against the plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as defendant, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained as the result of the negligence of defendant in permitting a gate stem on one of its gas lines to remain exposed as a traffic hazard in a public highway.
¶2 The plaintiff alleged, in substance, in his petition the corporate character and the nature of the business of the defendant, the omission of defendant to exercise due care in the maintenance and construction of a gate stem on one of its gas lines which was located in a public highway, and the exposure of such gate stem so as to constitute the same a traffic hazard; a puncture by said exposed gate stem of a tire upon a pickup truck in which plaintiff was riding as a passenger, and the consequent injury to the plaintiff by being thrown suddenly and violently against parts of said truck as the result of the puncture of the tire and the loss of control of the truck by its driver.
¶3 The answer of the defendant admitted its corporate character and the nature of its business, but denied all other allegations in the petition of the plaintiff and pleaded contributory negligence of the driver as the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries, if any.
¶4 Under the issues thus framed trial was had to a jury. The defendant demurred to the...
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Blackmer v. COOKSON HILLS ELEC. CO-OP, INC., No. 92451.
...a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact. Id. at ¶ 19, 285 P.2d at 204. See also Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. v. Smith, 1941 OK 387, 119 P.2d 844 (defendant gas company was liable for injuries that plaintiff suffered when the vehicle in which he was riding struck a gate stem tha......
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Blackmer v. COOKSON HILLS ELEC. CO-OP, INC., No. 92451.
...a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact. Id. at ¶ 19, 285 P.2d at 204. See also Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. v. Smith, 1941 OK 387, 119 P.2d 844 (defendant gas company was liable for injuries that plaintiff suffered when the vehicle in which he was riding struck a gate stem tha......