Case Name: Mary MESSINA v. John BOWEN, Government Employees Insurance Company, and the City of New Orleans, Department of Streets
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1982-05-18
Citations: 415 So. 2d 351
Docket Number: No. 12789
Parties: Mary MESSINA v. John BOWEN, Government Employees Insurance Company, and the City of New Orleans, Department of Streets.
Judges: Before SCHOTT, KLEES, AUGUSTINE, WARD and WILLIAMS, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 415
Pages: 351–354

Head Matter:
Mary MESSINA v. John BOWEN, Government Employees Insurance Company, and the City of New Orleans, Department of Streets.
No. 12789.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
May 18, 1982.
Darleen M. Jacobs (A Professional Law Corp.), New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.
Robert E. Leake, Jr., W. Paul Andersson, Hammett, Leake & Hammett, New Orleans, for defendants-appellants.
Before SCHOTT, KLEES, AUGUSTINE, WARD and WILLIAMS, JJ.

Opinion:
KLEES, Judge.
This case arises out of an automobile accident which occurred at the intersection of St. Ferdinand Street and St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans. Plaintiff was awarded judgment against defendants John Bowen and Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO). Only GEICO appeals.
The facts show that on May 20,1978, the plaintiff was proceeding in a southerly direction on St. Ferdinand Street and stopped at its intersection with St. Claude Avenue. Her objective was to cross St. Claude Avenue, the favored street. When she reached this intersection she testified that she could not tell if any automobiles were approaching the intersection from St. Claude Avenue because her vision was obstructed by parked cars on St. Claude Avenue.
The plaintiff further testified that "I Looked and I couldn't see. I pulled out a little more — I could see there was a train passing. But I still couldn't see enough to see if there was cars. So I pulled on a little more. And that's the last thing I remember." At this time she proceeded forward while looking straight ahead and while in the right lane of St. Claude Avenue her automobile was struck squarely in the middle by the car driven by defendant's minor son, Douglas R. Bowen.
The defendant's minor son testified that he was travelling approximately 35 to 40 miles per hour at the time he initially observed the plaintiff move forward into his path. He further testified that he did not see the plaintiff until she moved forward into his path. Theodore Pierce, the police officer who investigated the accident, provided support for this claim by the defendant when he testified that the same parked cars that obstructed the view of the plaintiff could have obstructed the view of the defendant.
David Bickham, an independent witness, testified that he was travelling in his vehicle to the rear of and in the left lane of St. Claude Avenue while the defendant was in the right lane. He claimed to have seen the plaintiff's car when it was stopped and began to move forward. However, this does not prove that the defendant could have or should have seen the plaintiff's car.
The appellants contend that the trial judge committed reversible error by failing to find the plaintiff contributorily negligent which would be a bar to her recovery.
Although the trial judge concluded Douglas Bowen was negligent because he was travelling 35 to 45 mph on a street having a 35 mph speed limit; nonetheless Bowen had the right of way on St. Claude Avenue and it is a firm rule of law that when a motorist is travelling on a favored street he has the right to assume that any driver approaching the intersection from a less favored street will yield the right of way. This right of way driver can indulge in the assumption until he sees or should have seen the other car has not yielded. Duchmann v. Allstate Insurance Company, 389 So.2d 896 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1980).
Assuming for the sake of argument that the defendant's view of the plaintiff was not obstructed, he was still entitled to assume that she would yield the right of way, particularly since she did stop a second time after she moved forward to see if it was safe to cross the street.
Uncontradicted testimony shows that the defendant was approximately two (2) car lengths or 36 feet away at the time he observed the plaintiff's car move out in front of his path. This fact was corroborated by the testimony of Earle H. Bou-dreaux, an expert in accident investigation and reconstruction, who stated that the total stopping distance at 40 mph would be 85.61 feet, and at 35 mph the total stopping distance was 70 feet which indicates the accident was unavoidable.
Furthermore, a driver entering a right of way street where the view is obstructed is under a duty to proceed with extreme caution. Continental Insurance Company v. Duthu, 235 So.2d 182 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1970) writ refused 239 So.2d 346, 256 La. 820 (1970).
It is clear that the plaintiff failed to exercise the extreme care required of her. Based upon the plaintiff's own testimony it appears that she assumed that a crossing train blocked off the traffic giving her freedom to cross when she in fact was not certain that there were no cars approaching the intersection from St. Claude Avenue.
The appellee argues preemption. However before a motorist can successfully rely on preemption he must show that he entered the intersection at a proper speed and sufficiently in advance of the car on the intersecting street to permit him to cross without requiring an emergency stop by the vehicle; entry into the intersection just a fraction of a second ahead of the other vehicle does not create a preemption. West v. Travelers Indemnity, 225 So.2d 139 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1969). Gracias v. Collins, 236 So.2d 295 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1970).
In the present case all of the parties testified that the plaintiff's car was struck while in the right lane of St. Claude Avenue and that plaintiff did not even reach the middle of the street before she was hit. The conclusion necessarily follows that plaintiff should have seen defendant approaching and should have remained in her position on St. Ferdinand Street until it was clear to proceed.
The trial court concluded that the sole proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of the minor driver, Douglas Bowen, and exonerated plaintiff from fault. If plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence, which was a proximate cause of the accident she would be barred from recovery. Our review of the record convinces us that the exoneration of plaintiff Messina from contributory negligence constituted manifest error and we reverse.
Accordingly, the judgment appealed from is reversed and there is judgment in favor of Government Employers Insurance Company against Mary Messina, dismissing her suit at her cost.
REVERSED AND RENDERED.