Case Name: Betty Gros GAUDET, Individually and as Natural Tutrix of her Minor Children, etc. v. LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, et al.
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1982-11-16
Citations: 432 So. 2d 867
Docket Number: No. 82 CA 0085
Parties: Betty Gros GAUDET, Individually and as Natural Tutrix of her Minor Children, etc. v. LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, et al.
Judges: Before COVINGTON, LEAR and LANIER, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 432
Pages: 867–871

Head Matter:
Betty Gros GAUDET, Individually and as Natural Tutrix of her Minor Children, etc. v. LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS, et al.
No. 82 CA 0085.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.
Nov. 16, 1982.
On Rehearing April 13, 1983.
Christopher Siegrist, Houma, for plaintiff and appellant Betty Gros Gaudet.
Carlos E. Lazarus Jr., Houma, for defendant and appellant Patterson-Edmonson Const. Co.
Joseph Abrams, New Orleans, Counsel for plaintiff and appellant Ruby Woolens.
Frederick R. Campbell, Atty. at Law, New Orleans, for defendant and appellee Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.
Ronald R. Thompson, Baton Rouge, for defendant and appellee Louisiana Dept, of Transp.
Huntington B. Downer, Houma, for defendant and appellee City of Houma, and Houma Police Dept.
Robert Morvant, Thibodaux, for defendant and appellee U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co.
Mack E. Barham & Lizabeth Talbott, New Orleans, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Before COVINGTON, LEAR and LANIER, JJ.

Opinion:
COVINGTON, Judge.
In this wrongful death action, Betty Gros Gaudet,' individually and as tutrix of her minor children, filed suit against Louisiana Department of Highways, City of Houma, the Houma Police Department, and Greyhound Lines, Inc. The case was tried on March 23, 1981. At the close of plaintiff's case, Greyhound moved for a directed verdict, which was granted. At the conclusion of the defense of the remaining defendants, judgment was rendered in favor of all defendants. Plaintiff has devolutively appealed.
Driving to work at about 5:30 a.m. on the morning of August 11, 1978, Gaudet collided with a Greyhound bus at the intersection of Lafayette and Honduras Streets in Hou-ma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and was killed as a result of the collision. The traffic light at this intersection was non-operative at the time of this accident; it had been turned off by an unknown third party. Before the accident, the Houma Police Department responded to a call reporting the problem with the light, and discovered the power box was unlocked and the power switch was in the "off" position. They turned on the power to the light; however, at the time of the accident, the power had again been turned off.
Gaudet was traveling easterly on Honduras Street, a street that runs east-west, and was driving a truck provided for his use by his employer, Patterson and Edmonson Construction Company, Inc. A fellow employee was riding with him. The Greyhound bus, driven by Laverna (Myrna) T. Zulevich, was travelling southerly on Lafayette Street, a north-south roadway, and had several traffic lights along the route. Zulevich testified that she was travelling between 25 and 30 miles per hour and was two car lengths from the intersection when she noticed that the traffic light controlling this intersection was off; she removed her foot from the power' throttle, but no attempt was made to apply the brakes. When the bus was approximately three and one-half feet from the intersection, she saw a pickup truck coming toward the intersection, appearing from around the building located at the corner of this intersection and she tried to avoid the accident by swerving left. Despite her efforts, the bus and truck collided, the point of impact being the driver's door of the pickup. The truck skidded through the intersection and slammed into the Green Door Lounge, a nearby bar. Police and ambulance arrived at the scene and Gaudet was taken to the hospital, where he died a short time later. No one else was seriously injured, although there was substantial property damage to both vehicles and the bar.
The trial court, for oral reasons dictated into the record, dismissed plaintiff's suit against the defendants. The judge found that Lafayette Street, as a north-south street, was the preferred street, thus Gau-det was negligent in his failure to yield the right-of-way to the bus. A directed verdict was granted in favor of Greyhound. This decision was based on Houma Ordinance Section 22-24 which provides that:
Except as otherwise designated in accordance with subsection (b) hereof, all streets running in a northerly and southerly direction are hereby declared to be right-of-way or through streets.
Subsection (b) of this ordinance sets forth the means of designating and controlling streets and intersections, one of which is the placement of a traffic light. Once a street has been so designated, motorists traveling thereon are required to obey the signal. Lafayette Street, although running in a northerly-southerly direction, is controlled by a semaphore. Consequently, being otherwise designated by the semaphore, Lafayette Street is excepted from the cited section of the ordinance.
The case of Soprano v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 246 La. 524, 165 So.2d 308, 311 (1964), dealt with a similar situation and established:
Once a municipality has erected a four-sided automatic signal device at an intersection such as this, [statutory traffic designations] are no longer applicable so long as that device remains visible to an ordinary, observant motorist whether it is functional or not . Should the device become non-operative, as in this case, the duty of an approaching motorist is then to exercise extreme caution at such an intersection and not to proceed therein until he ascertained that he can [sic] negotiate the intersection with safety.
A duty of extreme caution is imposed upon a motorist approaching an intersection with a non-operative traffic light. "To enter such an intersection without slowing down or stopping to ascertain whether the crossing can be negotiated in safety is imprudent and constitutes negligence in legal contemplation. Id., at 312. The trial judge found that Gaudet negligently caused the collision which is the subject of this litigation. Due to the approaching bus, it was unsafe to enter and attempt to cross the intersection. Gaudet should have seen the approaching bus and to attempt to cross the intersection in view of the approaching bus constitutes negligence. Under the law Gaudet is presumed to have seen what he should have seen. Young v. Sea Insurance Company 173 So.2d 362, 364 (La.App. 1st Cir.1965). Thus, Gaudet breached the duty of extreme caution owed by him to other motorists in entering this intersection when apparently it could not be safely traversed. The accident was caused by his fault, and plaintiff is denied recovery on this basis. Breihaupt v. Sellers, 390 So.2d 870 (La.1980). The duty of extreme caution was also owed to other motorists by Zulevich, the driver of the Greyhound bus, who was obligated to comply with the traffic lights along this route. As the traffic light at this intersection was non-operative at this time, she had a duty to slow or stop, and to proceed with extreme caution after ascertaining that it was safe to proceed. Zulevich's testimony merely establishes that she removed her foot from the power throttle when she saw the light was not operating. This act does not fulfill the duty of extreme caution owed by her. Like Gau-det, Zulevich caused this accident when she breached the duty she owed to other motorists of stopping or slowing and proceeding into the intersection only when it apparently could be safely crossed. Greyhound sought to recover property damages suffered as a result of this collision, and was awarded such damages by the trial judge. Since the collision was the fault of Greyhound conjointly with the fault of Gaudet, recovery by Greyhound for its damages will be denied.
The trial court also granted a directed verdict in favor of the City of Houma and the Department of Highways, State of Louisiana, on the ground that the accident was caused by Gaudet's fault, thereby exonerating the governmental entities from liability under LSA-C.C. art. 2317; Loescher v. Parr, 324 So.2d 441 (La.1975). We agree with this finding of the trial court, noting that Zulevich's breach of duty was also a cause of the accident.
Accordingly, for the above and foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is amended, and as amended, is affirmed. The demands of Betty Gros Gaudet are dismissed. Costs of the appeal are to be borne equally by Betty Gros Gaudet and Greyhound Lines, Inc.
AMENDED, AND AS AMENDED, AFFIRMED.
. Along with Gaudet's demands, suits were filed by Ruby Woolens, d/b/a The Green Door Bar & Restaurant, Lucille Greco Hebert and Greyhound Lines, Inc. for the property damage sustained as a result of this collision. The employer of Gaudet was made a party to this litigation, as he was acting within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Separate judgments will be rendered, but the matter will be fully treated in the Gaudet case only.