Smith v. Allegheny County
| Decision Date | 24 May 1954 |
| Citation | 105 A.2d 137,377 Pa. 365 |
| Parties | SMITH v. ALLEGHENY COUNTY. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Action for injuries sustained when plaintiff was struck by tire rim which became detached from wheel of defendant's truck. The Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Walter P. Smart J., at No. 1603, January term, 1949, entered judgment for plaintiff on verdict for $6,500, and defendant appealed. The Supreme Court, Bell, J., No. 100, March term, 1954, held that award of $6,500 for pain and suffering caused by leg injury which caused leg to swell to twice it normal size and which caused a large hematoma to develop, and for $68 doctor bill was excessive, and judgment would be modified by reducing award to $5,000.
Modified and affirmed.
Samuel W. Pringle, Dalzell, Pringle, Bredin & Martin, Pittsburgh John David Rhodes, Pittsburgh, for appellant.
Robert B. Ivory and Evans, Ivory & Evans Pittsburgh, for appellee.
Before STERN, C. J., and STEARNE, JONES, BELL, MUSMANNO, ARNOLD, JJ.
A very narrow question is presented. Was the verdict excessive?
We shall summarize the testimony on behalf of the plaintiff as follows: On November 13, 1946, a tire rim became detached from the left rear wheel of defendant's truck. The rim rolled down the street and hit plaintiff in the back of his legs, knocking him against the front of the car he was inspecting. Plaintiff was taken to the hospital and then back to his service station, and from there to his home. He was confined to his home, and most of the time to his bed, for a month. Then with the aid of a cane he was able to supervise his garage business for two to four hours a day for five to six weeks, but was not able to perform a complete day's work until the middle of February, 1947.
Plaintiff's left leg swelled to twice its normal size and a large hematoma developed. His doctor put him to bed, gave him morphine for the pain, and ordered him to keep his leg raised. Plaintiff testified that the pain for the first month was constant and severe. The doctor testified that the swelling and discoloration disappeared and the leg retained its normal appearance by the middle of February, 1947-a period of three months. His bill was $68. Plaintiff testified that he still sometimes suffered pain up to the date of trial, especially if he did too much work.
Plaintiff's right leg was also injured, but only very slightly, namely, eight small brush burns, none larger than a thumbnail. These brush burns were not deep and caused no swelling and healed within a month. The treatment prescribed for these burns was cleanliness and rest. Plaintiff's right leg had been terribly damaged in an accident when he was 15 years old. As a result of the accident he underwent operations at St. John's Hospital, where he was confined from 3 to 6 months, and where part of the calf of his right leg was cut away and finally a tendon was cut so that he could move his ankle. He underwent another operation at the Suburban General Hospital, where he was confined for four months. As a result of that accident and the subsequent operations, about one-third of his right leg, from the tendon of the foot to the knee, was covered with scar tissue, circulation was impaired and he could not thereafter bend his right leg completely and had to baby it. This is important in considering his claim that the present accident prevented him from changing tires and doing similar work at his service station.
Plaintiff's only expenses were the doctor's bill of $68. While plaintiff was laid up from the accident, his friends worked for him at his garage gratis, but there was testimony that the wage rate of an attendant, who would have done plaintiff's work, was $1.25 per hour. Plaintiff failed to adequately prove any loss of earnings or profits.
Plaintiff's doctor, because of plaintiff's complaint about pain, advised him to give up the service station and he sold this about a year after the accident. Plaintiff testified that he sold his gasoline business because he couldn't do the work any more, in that repairing and changing a tire and standing on his feet all day would hurt his legs.
Before the accident plaintiff had also had a trucking business, which he continued to operate after selling his service station. Since February, 1948, plaintiff has been engaged in long-haul trucking, driving his own heavy tractor-trailer outfit in interstate hauling. Plaintiff's doctor testified that plaintiff was capable of driving this big tractor-trailer outfit in spite of his bad right leg.
Defendant's doctor testified that when he examined plaintiff in August, 1947, he had completely recovered.
The lower...
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