Flores v. Garcia
Flores v. Garcia
Opinion of the Court
This suit is for damages brought by appellee for personal injuries occasioned by a collision between an automobile driven by the agent, servant, and employs of appellant and a bicycle .ridden by appellee, on the streets of Laredo, on or about September 1, 1918, resulting in bodily injuries to appellee, detailed in plaintiff’s petition.
Appellee’s cause of action was- predicated upon the alleged negligence of the driver of an automobile owned by appellant while operating in the line of his employment. One of the grounds of negligence alleged was the violation of the penal laws of Texas regulating the operation of automobiles — the violation of article 820k, the provisions of which were set out in plaintiff’s petition. Another ground of negligence was that appellant, without giving appellee any notice of his approach or of his intention to make a turn at the intersection of streets, in violation of law, negligently, recklessly, carelessly, and without regard to life or property ran into and.over the appellee and his bicycle with great speed and force, and did then and there *744 with his automobile knock appellee down and permanently injure him.
It was alleged that the driver of said machine was in the employ of appellant, who was the owner of the automobile, and members of his family were then being driven and were riding in said automobile, and under whose authority it was being driven, and under whose direction the chauffeur was operating the same, and therefore his negligence was the negligence of the owner.
The appellant filed answer consisting of both general and special exceptions, a general denial, and special pleas of contributory pegligence. All of said pleas were overruled.
The case was submitted to the jury on a general charge of the court, and resulted in a verdict in favor of appellee for the sum of $2,500.
The findings of the jury were as follows:
Physical and mental suffering. 200 00 Diminished earning capacity. 1,900 00
Total .■..$2,600 00
The appellee of his own motion asks that the judgment be reformed to allow him to remit the sum of $353, so that the judgment shall be for only the sum of $2,147.
The appellant bases his contention upon the proposition that the statute regulating the operation of automobiles is a criminal statute and affords no remedy for civil action, and therefore the only remedy that the ap-pellee has is to sue and recover damage for his injuries based upon the common-law remedy alone.
It has been held so many times in this state that it is negligence per se for railroads to operate trains in violation of statutory laws or ordinance of cities that it is not an open question. It is a tort and trespass for which a civil action will lie, whether applied to a corporation or individual. A case very similar to this was decided by this court very recently. See Zucht v. Brooks, 216 S. W. 685. The court did not err in overruling the exception, and this assignment is overruled.
It was not improper to plead the statute itself in hsee verba. The allegation that the plaintiff operated his automobile in violation of the law in such cases made and provided, and in the particular in which it was claimed that it was a violation, would have been sufficient; but the statute itself pleaded was not, for the reasons stated, improper, since, if one operating a car in violation of a statutory law or police regulation of a municipality causes an accident by such violation, his act, being in violation of the law or ordinance, is negligence per se, and to claim that it was improperly influencing the minds of the jury, or that it gave no right of action, is not supported by any authority cited by appellant, and is in the face of the holding of many courts besides that of this court.
This assignment is overruled.
This assignment is overruled.
The appellant was the owner of the machine and had in his employ as chauffeur Jose Leal, who was 19 years old, and at the time of the accident was driving the car for Maria Flores and Rosa Gonzales, who were in the car when the accident occurred. Maria Flores was the sister of appellant, and Rosa Gonzales was a friend of the family. They were riding in the ear for pleasure and were talking, as they said, “like women generally do, and seeing; that is what we go out riding for, * * * having a good time, talking and riding.” The testimony very fully established the fact that the chauffeur *745 was in tlie course of his employment, driving defendant’s car for the-pleasure of defendant’s family and guest, at the time of the collision. He was engaged in the business of his employment. The safety of pedestrians and those using the ordinary vehicles of travel must of necessity depend upon the careful operation of automobiles upon the thoroughfares. It is a powerful machine, capable of doing great damage if negligently manipulated, and the owner should be charged with the responsibility that those to whom he permits the use of such instrumentality shall be capable and his car under the control of a careful person. The public is vitally concerned in such employment and in the operation of such machines, and the. Legislature, in passing laws regulating the operation of such cars and the use of automobiles, had the interests and safety of the public in mind. Therefore, under all of the authorities, the owner of the machine may be held responsible for the negligence of the person operating the machine, while engaged in the business of the owner, and the person sustaining the injury may disregard the immediate author of the mischief and hold the master responsible for the damage. He selected the servant, and the servant is under his control, and' the act of the servant must be regarded in law as the act of the master. Zucht v. Brooks, 216 S. W. 685; Lefkovitz v. Sherwood, 136 S. W. 850; May v. Hahn, 80 S. W. 262; Id., 97 S. W. 133; H. B. & T. R. Co. v. Rucker, 167 S. W. 301; Rew v. Stoddard, 225 S. W. 836, recently decided by this court. It does not make any difference whether the statute imposed a criminal liability against the chauffeur for excessive speeding or negligent operation of a car, that does not prevent a civil action for the same thing, as the fact that the chauffeur has been prosecuted, convicted, and paid a fine for his negligence would not avail as a defense in any particular against a civil action for the same negligence.
The third assignment is overruled.
The fourth assignment complains of the action of the court in charging the jury:
“If any person while operating an automobile violates any of the foregoing provisions of law, and by reason of such violation collides with and inflicts injury upon another person, he is guilty of negligence, and is liable in damages for the injuries so inflicted.”
Such charge is supported by the uniform authorities, and for the reasons given herein upon the same subject we overrule the contention.
The same assignment- complains of the charge of the court to the effect that the negligence of the chauffeur in operating the car with the authority or consent of the owner is the act of the owner, and if the chauffeur is guilty of negligence in operating the car and inflicts an injury, the owner is liable, and if an accident occurs resulting in an injury without negligence on the part of the chauffeur, the owner is not liable.
There is no error in this charge. It states correct principles of law. We overrule this contention.
The said assignment further complains of the language of the court in submitting the issue to the jury that the defendant was liable for the unlawful acts and negligence of the chauffeur operating said car, because the admitted facts show he is not a corporation, but is an individual, and was not present or having any control of the car at the time of the accident. We overrule this con-' tention for the reasons already given.
“The statute regulating the driving of motor-driven vehicles, and prescribing punishment by fine or imprisonment, or both, and other penalties, has no application in this case; and you will not consider the same in arriving at your verdict.”
This is an incorrect proposition, and the court did not err in refusing it, as will be seen by the discussion of the same subject in another place in this opinion.
The fourth assignment is overruled.
The fifth assignment is that the verdict of the jury is contrary to the law in respect to damages incurred for medical services of $400 in the item reading “Diminished earning capacity,” because the proof shows he had been twice promoted, with better pay, and the verdict is based upon the opinion and theory as to said item, without actual proof of the same.
While the appellee controverts the proposition, he has rendered the discussion of the excess contained in the $400. item unimportant, since he remitted from the verdict and judgment, for medical services rendered in the case, the sum of $353, being the difference between the judgment awarded to him for such services of $400 and the amount actually proven for medical services in the sum of $47.
We have cárefully considered all of appellant’s assignments of error, and find no reversible error assigned, except as to the item of $400 for medical services, which ap-pellee admits and remits the sum of $353 thereof. We therefore reform the judgment, by deducting the amount of the remittitur, and as thus reformed, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
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