Sutherland's Eggs, Inc. v. Barber
| Decision Date | 05 September 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 42931,No. 3,42931,3 |
| Parties | SUTHERLAND'S EGGS, INC., et al. v. Hugh L. BARBER |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
Where the evidence showed the plaintiff to be completely free of negligence and the defendant's testimony revealed no legal reason or excuse for his failure to stop the vehicle he was driving prior to colliding with the rear of the plaintiff's automobile, the trial judge did not err in directing a verdict for the plaintiff on the question of liability.
The plaintiff filed suit for damages resulting from a collision on Interstate Highway 75, within the city limits of Atlanta. The petition alleged in part that the defendant Heard negligently drove a truck into the rear of the automobile which the plaintiff was driving. Upon the trial of the case the trial judge directed a verdict for the plaintiff on the question of liability. After verdict and judgment the defendants filed a notice of appeal and the case is here for review.
Neely, Freeman & Hawkins, Paul M. Hawkins, Atlanta, for appellants.
Wall, Armstrong & Fuller, R. J. Armstrong, Atlanta, for appellee.
J. KELLEY QUILLIAN, Judge.
'Questions of negligence, of contributory negligence, of cause and proximate cause, and of whose negligence or of what negligence constitutes the proximate cause of an injury are, except in plain, palpable, and indisputable cases, solely for the jury.' Long Constr. Co. v. Ryals, 102 Ga.App. 66(1), 115 S.E.2d 726. However, in the case sub judice the evidence disclosed that the plaintiff was completely free of any act of negligence. The defendant driver testified in part: that he was following the plaintiff's automobile at a distance of approximately 'two car lengths' at a speed of 30 to 35 miles per hour; that as he started up the grade he 'noticed the traffic begin to back up'; he saw the plaintiff's brake lights as his automobile was going up the grade; the plaintiff's automobile started to slow down as the defendant started up the grade; because the truck was loaded he had 'to pick up a little bit'; just as he began 'to top the hill' the plaintiff's automobile 'had stopped' and he 'hit' the brakes, but it was too late.
There was no evidence that the plaintiff made a sudden stop. The plaintiff's testimony was that: he did not slam on his brakes and skid to a stop; he had 'learned to stay back and allow for such stops'; 'as I was coming up the...
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Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Jones, COCA-COLA
...acts of its agent. The issue presented here by defendants is controlled rather by the principles enunciated in Sutherland's Eggs, Inc. v. Barber, 116 Ga.App. 393, 157 S.E.2d 491. In a factual setting similar to the case sub judice, this court, noting that there was no evidence that the plai......
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Johnson v. Curenton
...verdicts with fixing of amounts of damages, if any, left to the jury, have been upheld by this court. See Sutherland's Eggs, Inc. v. Barber, 116 Ga.App. 393, 157 S.E.2d 491, and Rosenfeld v. Young, 117 Ga.App. 35(1), 159 S.E.2d 447 where both headnotes state the principle that 'The evidence......
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Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Jones
...a rear-end collision in which a directed verdict of liability was rendered upon the trial of the case was Sutherland's Eggs, Inc. v. Barber, 116 Ga.App. 393, 394, 157 S.E.2d 491 (1967). Sutherland's Eggs followed Pike and distinguished Malcom by saying: 'Nothing held herein is in conflict w......
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Harper v. Plunkett
...Georgia. See Smith v. Hodges, 44 Ga.App. 318, 321, 161 S.E. 284; Jordan v. Lee, 51 Ga.App. 99(3), 179 S.E. 739. Sutherland's Eggs, Inc. v. Barber, 116 Ga.App. 393, 157 S.E.2d 491 also cited, shows, 'There was no evidence the plaintiff made a sudden stop.' P. 394, 157 S.E.2d p. 492. Thus the......