Case Title: Wagnon v. Patterson

Citation: 70 So. 2d 244

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1954-01-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
70 So. 2d 244 (1954)
WAGNON
v.
PATTERSON.
1 Div. 540.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
January 21, 1954.
*245 T. K. Jackson, Jr., and Inge, Twitty, Armbrecht & Jackson, Mobile, for appellant.
Herndon H. Wilson, Mobile, for appellee.
MERRILL, Justice.
Defendant, Mr. Wagnon, has appealed from a judgment in the Circuit Court of Mobile County in favor of plaintiff, Mr. Patterson, against him and Mrs. Ella Jean Weeks, who has not joined in this appeal. The judgment against both defendants was under Count One of the complaint as amended, which charged simple negligence. The complaint was in two counts. Count two charged both defendants with wilful or wanton conduct. The trial court submitted both counts to the jury.
The plaintiff, Mr. Patterson, was an occupant of Mr. Wagnon's automobile at the time that it was involved in an accident with an automobile of the other defendant, Mrs. Ella Jean Weeks. Mr. Patterson and Mr. Wagnon were both employed at Brookley Field.
On the afternoon of the accident they left Brookley Field at approximately four p. m. and proceeded north on Washington Avenue, a thoroughfare in the City of Mobile. Mr. Wagnon was driving. Mr. Patterson was sitting to his right on the front seat and one Mr. Elbe was sitting alone on the back seat. As Mr. Wagnon approached the intersection of Washington Avenue and Charleston Street, he was driving at a speed of approximately 20 to 30 miles per hour. There were no cars in front of him within one-half block. There was a blinker light at this intersection, blinking yellow or amber toward the traffic approaching from the south, as was Mr. Wagnon, and blinking red toward traffic approaching from the east, which was the direction from which Mrs. Weeks was approaching. As Mr. Wagnon entered the intersection from the south, the automobile driven by Mrs. Weeks entered from the east. It is undisputed that Mrs. Weeks slowed her car at the intersection, but she *246 stated that as she reached for the brake with her foot, she stepped on the accelerator and drove her automobile into Mr. Wagnon's automobile. As a result of this collision Mr. Patterson received serious injuries.
The assignments of error raise the questions of law as to (1) whether the allegation that plaintiff was riding in defendant's automobile "on a share expense basis" was subject to appellant's demurrer, (2) whether there was liability under the Alabama Guest Statute, (3) whether the injection of the matter of insurance coverage entitled defendant to a mistrial and (4) whether the motion for a new trial should have been granted.
Count One, as amended, the amendment being italicized reads as follows:
Defendant Wagnon demurred to this count on the ground that it did not show the existence of a relationship between plaintiff and defendant Wagnon by which a duty was imposed on Wagnon not to negligently injure Patterson.
Our Guest Statute, Title 36, § 95, Code of 1940, reads:
We think the allegation that plaintiff was a "passenger on a share expense basis" is of such certainty as to apprise defendant that plaintiff was thereby asserting that he was not riding as a guest of defendant. "With respect to a count in a complaint charging negligence, it is sufficient to allege only the facts and circumstances from which the law imposes a duty to the plaintiff, and then a general charge of negligence in performance of that duty without a statement of the particular manner in which it was negligently performed. 15 Alabama Digest, Negligence, 111(1), pages 336, 337." Birmingham Electric Co. v. Carver, 255 Ala. 471, 474, 52 So. 2d 200, 203.
The question as to whether or not plaintiff was a guest in the case at bar, is a close and difficult one, and rather than attempt to give the effect of the evidence on this subject, we set it out in full.
*247 Plaintiff on direct examination:
Plaintiff on cross-examination:
Part of a written statement admittedly signed by plaintiff while in bed at his home at the request of an investigator investigating the accident for defendant Wagnon is as follows: "Joe Wagnon is a personal friend of mine and I was a regular rider in his automobile every afternoon. Every pay day I would give him 50¢ to help out with the gas and oil. This, however, was not a charge but more or less a donation."
Defendant Wagnon on direct examination:
The only case previously before this court on the question presented here is that of Blair v. Greene, 247 Ala. 104, 22 So. 2d 834, but the facts therein were different from the instant case.
There is a full annotation on the subject in 10 A.L.R.2d 1351. See also 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 399(5), P. 1008 and 5 Am.Jur. 634, Automobiles, § 239.
We have not found, nor have the parties cited, a case directly in point with the facts in the instant case. We propose to quote extensively from the case of Hasbrook v. Wingate, 152 Ohio St. 50, 87 N.E.2d 87, 89, 10 A.L.R.2d 1342, for the reasons that the Ohio Statute and ours are identical, the Supreme Court of that state has construed the statute several times, the opinion cites numerous decisions from many jurisdictions, and we think it correctly and clearly states some of the law applicable to cases of this nature. The summary of the decision at 10 A.L.R.2d 1342 reads:
The following appears in the opinion in Hasbrook v. Wingate, supra:
As shown by the summary, and the application of the facts of that case to the law, the decision turned largely on the family relationship of the parties and it was held that plaintiff failed to prove a "passenger" status.
The rule is stated in 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 399(5), p. 1015; thusly:
For recent decisions construing statutes similar to the Alabama statute, see Engle v. Poland, Del.Super., 91 A.2d 326, and Harris v. Harfmann, 113 Cal. App. 2d 615, 248 P.2d 501.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania construed the Delaware statute in Kerstetter v. Elfman, 327 Pa. 17, 192 A. 663, 664, where plaintiffs were going on a fishing trip with defendant, whom they had never met prior to starting on this trip and the members of the party agreed before starting that all expenses including gasoline and oil would be shared equally and one plaintiff was to act as temporary paymaster and be subsequently reimbursed by the others, and said:
In Vol. 4 Blashfield's Cyclopedia of Automobile Law and Practice, p. 326, § 2292, we find:
As can be seen from the testimony, it is undisputed that Patterson had been transported regularly by Wagnon and had made a "payment therefor" every pay day for six or eight months prior to the accident. We cannot say from the evidence that, as a matter of law, there was no agreement on the part of Patterson to pay and on the part of Wagnon to receive a sum certain every pay day to be applied on the gasoline expenses incurred by Wagnon.
In the instant case we think the question of whether Patterson at the time of the accident was a passenger in the automobile or a gratuitous guest was a question for the jury, and not one of law for the court. Blair v. Greene, supra.
Appellant complains that the matter of insurance was improperly injected into the trial of the case in two instances. For an account of the first, we quote from appellant's brief. (The statement in brief is supported by affidavit and appellee concedes it to be true.)
It is obvious that the defendant Wagnon did not raise a matter to be considered on appeal merely by taking an exception to the trial court's statement when his objection was sustained. Sovereign Camp, W. O. W. v. Gunn, 224 Ala. 444, 140 So. 410; Hooper Cafe Co. v. Henderson, 223 Ala. 579, 137 So. 419. The same question was raised in Vredenburgh Saw Mill Co. v. Black, 251 Ala. 302, 37 So. 2d 212, and there the defendant went further and moved for a continuance, which motion was overruled and an exception taken to the ruling on the motion.
The other question concerning insurance arose while plaintiff was on the stand on direct examination. In that connection the record discloses the following:
A similar situation was considered in the case of Cannon v. Scarborough, 223 Ala. 674[4], 137 So. 900[4], where it was held that irresponsive testimony showing that the defendant motorist was insured, followed by a motion to discharge the jury, which was overruled, and proper instructions by the court to the jury to exclude such remark from its consideration, was sufficient to remove its hurtful consequences. The question in the instant case called for proper evidence, and the reference to insurance in the answer was clearly irresponsive. See 4 A.L.R. 2d 784, § 12, and 95 A.L.R. 399, § 5.
The assignment of error relating to the denying of the motion for a new trial, as argued, presents the contention that even though defendant Wagnon was admittedly driving at an unlawful speed into an intersection where the view was obstructed, his negligence, if any, was not the proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries.
Title 36, § 5, Code of 1940, restricting speed provides in part:
It is admitted that the testimony of Police Officer Jacobs sufficiently established that the intersection where the accident happened presented an obstructed view within the meaning of the statute.
The question in cases of this nature is one ordinarily for the jury, and whether the defendant Wagnon's speed in violation of the statute proximately contributed to the collision in view of his right of way and whether it was due solely to the negligence of defendant Weeks, were questions for the trier of the facts. Roe v. Brown, 249 Ala. 425, 31 So. 2d 599. We find nothing in the case of McCloud v. Williams, 257 Ala. 611, 60 So. 2d 339, which conflicts with the above, because it is plainly stated in the latter case that the 15 mile speed limit of the statute has no application.
The trial court did not err in refusing the affirmative charge with hypothesis requested in behalf of defendant Wagnon.
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
Affirmed.
LIVINGSTON, C. J., and LAWSON and STAKELY, JJ., concur.