Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Thomas
| Decision Date | 13 July 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. B-6081,B-6081 |
| Parties | SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. John THOMAS et ux., Respondents. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
The opinion of the Court dated June 8, 1977 is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted therefor.
This action for damages was brought by Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas for personal injuries arising out of a rear-end automobile collision in which a truck owned by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and operated by one of its employees collided with the rear-end of an automobile owned and operated by Mr. Thomas. The trial court entered judgment on the jury verdict for the plaintiffs. The court of civil appeals upheld the trial court judgment. 535 S.W.2d 686. We reverse.
The collision occurred on October 29, 1971, on Interstate 45 between Texas City and Dickinson, Texas, in Galveston County. Interstate 45 is a four-lane divided highway with two lanes for automobiles traveling in a southerly direction, and two in the northerly direction. The roadway was straight and level; there were no curves or hills and nothing obscured the vision of the drivers. The accident occurred in the daytime when weather conditions were clear and the highway was dry. Both cars were traveling in the right-hand lane in a northerly direction about five miles north of Texas City, when the defendant's truck overtook and collided with the rear of the plaintiffs' automobile, propelling the plaintiffs' automobile to the right, off of the highway. The defendant's truck veered and turned to the left into the esplanade. The defendant's driver, John Cliver, Jr. testified that he was traveling approximately 65 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour zone.
The verdict upon which judgment was rendered consisted solely of answers to special issues on damages resulting from "the occurrence in question." No special issues on primary negligence or proximate cause were submitted by the court.
The defendant complains to this Court of the trial court's refusal to submit tendered special issues on contributory negligence and proximate cause. In affirming the trial court's judgment, the court of civil appeals held defendant's requested issues were not in substantially correct form, and that there was no evidence to support their submission. The issues requested by defendant inquired (1) whether Thomas was driving at a slower rate of speed than a person using ordinary care would have driven, and (2) whether such action was a proximate cause of the occurrence in question. * We think the issues were in substantially correct form. The requested contributory negligence issue included an inquiry of negligence; the conduct inquired about is cast in terms that are at variance from an ordinary care standard. Tex.R.Civ.P. 277; Southern Steel Company v. Manning, 513 S.W.2d 273 (Tex.Civ.App.1974, no writ).
One may be guilty of contributory negligence in a rear-end collision case by driving too slowly. Owens v. Rogers, 446 S.W.2d 865 (Tex.1969); Moulton v. Alamo Ambulance Service, Inc., 414 S.W.2d 444 (Tex.1967). If there was evidence to support the special issues, the trial court's refusal to submit such issues constituted reversible error. We think that there was some evidence.
It is undisputed both vehicles were traveling in a northerly direction in the outside or right-hand lane. Mr. Thomas testified he was driving "between 50 and 55 miles an hour" when his wife reminded him he was driving "too fast." He testified that this remark drew his attention to the speedometer and, "I was making 55, and a few more minutes I heard a lick and I was headed...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Elbaor v. Smith
...of Ms. Smith's contributory negligence. Accordingly, the trial court should have submitted it to the jury. See Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Thomas, 554 S.W.2d 672, 674 (Tex.1977) (trial court must submit issues if there is "some evidence" of contributory Dr. Elbaor properly preserved error......
-
Argee Corp. v. Solis, 09-93-121
...court's refusal to submit an issue supported by the evidence and the pleadings constitutes reversible error. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. v. Thomas, 554 S.W.2d 672 (Tex.1977). Although this Court may question Solis' ability to show actual damages relating to his fraud claim on the Woodvi......
-
Armellini Exp. Lines of Florida, Inc. v. Ansley
...table. See Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Thomas, 535 S.W.2d 686 (Tex.Civ.App.-Corpus Christi 1976, rev'd on other grounds, 554 S.W.2d 672 (Tex.Sup.1977). Therefore, after viewing all of the evidence, we find that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's answer to special issue no......
-
Moore v. Lillebo
...Moore's and Theaker's requested issues, the trial court's refusal to submit them constitutes reversible error. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. v. Thomas, 554 S.W.2d 672, 674 Paul's parents were divorced. After the divorce, he lived with his father while attending high school. He accompanied......