Beaumont Traction Co. v. Arnold
Beaumont Traction Co. v. Arnold
Opinion of the Court
Appellees, E. W, Arnold and wife, brought this suit against appellant, Beaumont Traction Company, in the county court at law of Jefferson county, to recover damages because of personal injuries to Mrs. Arnold, alleged to have been caused by negligence on the part of appellant on the 25th day of December, 1917. Substantially stated, appellees’ petition alleged that they and others were traveling in an automobile truck, and while crossing appellant’s street car track in the city of Beaumont, at the regular crossing of Calder avenue and Eifth street, one of appellant’s street cars collided with said automobile truck, and that in consequence of such collision Mrs. Arnold was injured; her injuries being more specifically stated in the petition. The grounds of negligence alleged were, substantially, that appellant’s street car was being run and operated at a dangerous and excessive rate of speed, and that appellant’s employSs in charge of said street car at the time negligently failed to reduce the speed of the street car as the same approached the crossing on which the accident occurred, and that said employes also negligently failed to sound the gong or give other warning of the approach of said street car to said crossing, and that such acts of negligence proximately caused Mrs. Arnold’s injuries.
Appellant answered by general denial and general plea of contributory negligence on the part of both appellees. The case was tried before the court without a jury, and resulted in a judgment in favor of appellees for $350.
The trial judge filed findings of fact and conclusions of law as follows:
“This is a suit by Annie Arnold, joined by her husband, E. W. Arnold, for damages to the said Annie Arnold, sustained in a collision between one of defendant’s street cars and an automobile truck in which the plaintiffs were riding on the 25th day of December, 1917. I find as a matter of fact that the automobile truck in which plaintiff was riding was on its right-hand side of Fifth street in the city of Beaumont, ■ traveling in a northerly direction, and that the motor and the truck were about 30 feet long, and that while crossing the street car track, just before the rear end of the truck cleared the north rail of the street car track on Oalder avenue, that an east-bound Calder street car struck and collided with said rear end of said automobile truck with great force and violence, and knocked the plaintiff from one end of the truck in which she was riding to the other end, a distance of some 15 or 20 feet, and that by reason thereof she received and sustained internal injuries, and that the muscles of the abdominal region and back and left hip were severely sprained, and that she was confined to her bed for a period of about two weeks by reason of said injury, and suffered great physical pain, and that by reason thereof she incurred an expense of about $40 for medicine and medical attention, which was the reasonable value of same, and that.she had suffered more or less since said time as a result of said injuries.
“I further find that at the time of the collision, and immediately before it, the automobile truck was traveling about 8 or 10 miles per hour, and that the street ear was traveling about 25 miles per hour.
“I further find that the driver of the automobile truck, before attempting to cross said track, saw the street car traveling easterly on Oalder avenue nearly a block away from the point where Fifth street intersects Calder avenue. I further find that it was a habit and custom of motormen in charge of street cars on Oalder avenue to slow down for street crossings, which was well known to the driver of the truck, and that the street car did not, on the occasion in question, slow down its speed at and before the time it reached this street crossing, and that, had it slowed the car down, as was the custom, it would have avoided striking the automobile truck and injuring the plaintiff. I further find that the sum of $350 will fairly compensate the plaintiff for the injuries she sustained.
“Conclusions of Law.
“I find that the plaintiff (Mrs. Arnold) and the driver of the automobile truck were not guilty of contributory negligence, and were not guilty of negligence of any kind in attempting to and crossing Oalder avenue on Fifth street on the occasion of the injury to plaintiff. I find as a matter of law, under the facts, that the excessive rate of speed at which defendant’s street car was traveling at and before the time of the collision, to wit, about 25 miles per hour, and the failure of the motorman in charge of said street car to reduce its speed as it approached Fifth street, under all the circumstances and facts, was negligence, and that such negligence on the part of' defendant and its agents and servants in charge of said street car was the direct and proximate cause of the injury received by Mrs. Annie Arnold.”
Appellant concedes in its brief that its first and second assignments of error are entirely too general to be considered by this court, and we dismiss them without further mention.
Clearly, it was a question for the trial court to say, under the facts and circumstances in this case, whether or not it was negligence on the part of appellant to operate its street car at a speed of 25 miles per hour on Calder avenue, where this injury occurred, and, having determined that point in favor of appellees, we would not be authorized in finding to the contrary. Besides this, the trial court found that, under the facts and circumstances before him, appellant’s street car ought to have been, slowed down on its approach to the crossing where the injury occurred, and found that it was not so slowed down, and that such failure on the part of appellant’s operatives was negligence, and was a proximate cause of the injury complained of. This, in itself, would be sufficient .to uphold the judgment in favor of appellees, and appellant’s contention in this connection cannot be sustained.
The view we take of this case is that the questions involved were purely questions of fact, and, such questions having been determined in favor of appellees, upon evidence sufficient to warrant such determination, *278 this court would not be authorized to interfere with the judgment in this case.
All assignments of error are therefore overruled, and the judgment will he affirmed; and it is so ordered.
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Reference
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- Beaumont Traction Co. v. Arnold Et Ux.
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