Wood v. Olson
| Decision Date | 06 September 1961 |
| Docket Number | 38958,38956,Nos. 38944,38957,No. 1,s. 38944,1 |
| Citation | 104 Ga.App. 321,121 S.E.2d 677 |
| Parties | Sherman L. WOOD & Mrs. Sherman L. Wood v. Flora A. OLSON. Sherman L. WOOD & Mrs. Sherman L. Wood v. Lucille WALTON. Sherman L. WOOD & Mrs. Sherman L. Wood v. E. A. WALTON. Sherman L. WOOD & Mrs. Sherman L. Wood v. E. M. OLSON |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
The petition of a guest passenger, which alleged that the defendant host, driving in clear weather and daylight, weaved and swerved from one said of the road to the other, lost control and accelerated his speed and drove his vehicle off the right-hand side of the highway at over 60 miles per hour into a plainly visible culvert, making no effort to stop by applying the brakes or to turn to avoid striking the culvert, and that such conduct constituted gross negligence, stated a cause of action.
The plaintiff (defendant in error on appeal) in each of the above cases sued the same defendants (plaintiffs in error) for damages resulting from personal injuries received while a guest in an automobile owned by one and driven by the other defendant.
Each petition, as amended, contains allegations in the following language: The defendant, while driving on the highway in clear weather and daylight, negligently allowed the automobile to swerve from side to side on the highway, negligently lost control of it, and negligently and carelessly accelerated its speed; negligently and carelessly lost control of said vehicle by not exercising proper care and diligence in controlling the movement of said vehicle and keeping the same in proper lane of traffic, but weaved from one side of the road to the other, not keeping said vehicle on a straight and proper course, and negligently accelerated the speed of said vehicle after having allowed the same to veer from side to side, and negligently ran said vehicle off said highway on the right-hand side and collided with a culvert which was located approximately 15 feet from the eastern edge of said highway, striking the same with great force, thereby causing said vehicle to turn over, drove said vehicle into said culvert which was plainly visible at a speed in excess of 60 miles per hour, making no effort to stop said vehicle by applying the brakes and making no effort to turn said vehicle in order to avoid striking said culvert. The petitions allege that the defendant was grossly negligent in several particulars.
A general demurrer to each petition was overruled, and the defendants except in each case.
Anderson & Sanders, Cohen Anderson, Faye Sanders, Statesboro, Bouhan, Lawrence, Williams, Levy & McAlpin, Kirk McAlpin, Frank W. Seiler, Savannah, for plaintiffs in error.
Lanier & Lanier, Robert S. Lanier, Statesboro, for defendant in error.
When facts alleged as constituting gross negligence are such...
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