Court Opinion

ID: 9857779
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 16:00:42.497115+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:45:42.903703
License: Public Domain

ON REHEARING
SANDERS, Justice.
We granted plaintiffs’ application for a rehearing because of their forceful argument that we had misapplied the doctrine of contributory negligence to bar their recovery.
The facts may be briefly summarized. About February 12, 1968, James R. Leake, operator of a bulk gasoline plant at St. Francisville, ordered 8,262 gallons of premium gasoline. Prudhomme Truck Tank Service, Inc., a carrier of gasoline, undertook to deliver the gasoline in a diesel-powered tank truck driven by its employee, Robert Paul Bertinot. He arrived at St. Francisville with the gasoline about 6:00 a. m. on February 13. Since the plant was closed at that early hour, he telephoned R. M. Watson, the plant manager, and requested that he open the plant so that delivery could be made. Clad in house slippers, Watson opened the plant for the delivery. Bertinot parked his truck parallel to the warehouse, with the cab protruding, so that a person sitting in the cab could see two of the storage tanks. The first of these tanks contained diesel fuel. The second, some fifty-five feet from the cab, was the premium gasoline tank into which the gasoline on the Prudhomme truck was to be pumped.
Watson assisted Bertinot in coupling the delivery hose from the tank to a connection at the plant warehouse. Then, Watson signed the ticket and, with Bertinot’s knowledge, returned home to get ready for his regular working day.
This procedure conformed to a practice, followed on numerous occasions, whereby Watson would open the plant, sign the ticket, and leave Bertinot at the plant to make his delivery. The truck driver would then pump the gasoline into the storage tank, unhook the hose, and depart. On other occasions, the manager left the plant unlocked so Bertinot would not be delayed in making delivery.
A pump on the tank truck propelled the gasoline through the hose to the storage tank. Since the pump was operated by the truck’s diesel engine, it was necessary to keep the engine running until the delivery was complete.
Becaitse a diesel engine cannot be stopped in the presence of “outside” gas vapors by shutting off the ignition, the truck was equipped with a readily available emergency shutoff, or compression release, to stop the engine when gasoline escaped. Bertinot had been instructed in the use of this safety device.
Bertinot testified that after the pumping operation began, he sat in the cab of the *1093truck for about thirty to forty minutes. He then got out, climbed on the trailer, and looked into the trailer tank to see how much gas was left. He estimated that about 1000 gallons remained. He re-entered the cab and shortly thereafter he heard a “breaking noise” which caused him to look out. As he looked toward the rear of the property, he saw a fluid which he thought to be gasoline falling to the ground from one of the tanks, either the diesel tank or the premium tank which he was filling. It was running down toward the truck.
According to his testimony, Bertinot then turned off the ignition switch to stop the engine and pump. Instead of stopping, however, the engine began to race, apparently burning gasoline vapors from the outside. Becoming alarmed, Bertinot jumped from the cab and ran across Ferdinand Street. As he ran across the street, he fell, and by the time he got up, the fire had started. Bertinot conceded that he “really did not think about the emergency shutoff.”
The fire destroyed the bulk plant and Prudhomme’s tank trailer truck. Although a conflict exists in the evidence, the evidence preponderates in favor of our factual determination that the fire started from an overflow of the premium gasoline tank into which gasoline was being pumped. The record also supports a finding that Leake had ordered about 450 gallons more gasoline than the tank would hold.
Gasoline and similar fuels are highly dangerous, and persons handling them are required to exercise a high degree of care commensurate with the danger. Home Gas & Fuel Co. v. Mississippi Tank Co., 246 La. 625, 166 So.2d 252 (1964); Naquin v. Marquette Casualty Co., 244 La. 569, 153 So.2d 395 (1963); Harris Drilling Co. v. Delafield, 222 La. 416, 62 So.2d 627 (1953); Hake v. Air Reduction Sales Co., 210 La. 810, 28 So.2d 441 (1946); Jones v. Blossman, 209 La. 530, 25 So.2d 85 (1946).
On original hearing, we found the driver of the tank truck highly negligent. We adhere to this finding:
“In view of the highly dangerous nature of the commodity involved, Bertinot, knowing that none of Leake’s employees was present, had the obligation of keeping a proper lookout to be sure that the delivery process was proceeding smoothly and safely. This he admitted he did not do. Although the gas was escaping at a rapid rate, the record shows that a large portion of it flowing from the storage tank would have followed the natural drainage pattern, away from the truck. Consequently, it must have taken more than a few seconds for enough gas to flow under the truck by way of the swale which contained grass and some debris, puddle thereunder and vaporize sufficiently to cause the engine to accelerate.
*1095“By the slightest attention on his part, Bertinot even without having gotten out of the truck’s cab, could have observed the gasoline overflow when it commenced, instead of later when it was almost too late to take precautions to avoid the disaster.”
Despite the finding of negligence on the part of defendant’s driver, we denied recovery to plaintiffs, because Leake had ordered more gasoline than his tank could hold. We concluded that his miscalculation of the gallonage constituted contributory negligence barring recovery. We now think we erred in so holding.
Assuming contributory negligence on the part of Leake, a proper application of the doctrine of Last Clear Chance requires a judgment for plaintiffs. Under this doctrine, broadly stated, the contributory negligence of the plaintif does not bar recovery for the negligence of the defendant, when it appears that the defendant by exercising reasonable care should have observed the peril after it arose and have avoided injurious consequences but failed to do so. Williams v. City of Baton Rouge, 252 La. 770, 214 So.2d 138 (1968); Belshe v. Gant, 235 La. 17, 102 So.2d 477 (1958); Jackson v. Cook, 189 La. 860, 181 So. 195 (1938); Rottman v. Beverly, 183 La. 947, 165 So. 153 (1936); Comment, The Last Clear Chance Doctrine in Louisiana — An Analysis and Critique, 27 La.L.Rev. 269.
In Williams v. City of Baton Rouge, supra, this Court stated:
“Ordinarily contributory negligence would bar plaintiffs’ recovery. But the last clear chance doctrine has been approved in this state and this humanitarian rule of law, where applicable, forms an exception to the dogmatic approach which denies recovery on account of contributory negligence.”
Under the facts shown, a business practice existed whereby the driver made delivery while alone at the plant. This practice permitted delivery during hours when the plant was closed and avoided costly time losses for both the driver and his tank truck.
In making delivery, the truck driver was under a duty to guard against the fire hazard created by overflow of the gasoline storage tanks. In fact the ignition switch and emergency shutoff were under the driver’s exclusive control.
As we observed on original hearing, by the slightest attention on Bertinot’s part, he could have observed the gasoline overflow when it commenced, in time to take safety precautions. Proper observation would have afforded him ample time to stop the motor, the only source of ignition, and have prevented the .fire. Because of his heedlessness during the dangerous pumping operation, the driver failed to use a clear chance to avert the disastrous *1097consequences, at a time when the plant operator was helpless to do so.
Under these circumstances, plaintiffs are entitled to recover despite the defense of contributory negligence.
Conformable to our practice, the case should be remanded to the Court of Appeal for the assessment of damages. See Dixie Drive It Yourself Sys. v. American Beverage Co., 242 La. 471, 137 So.2d 298 (1962); Felt v. Price, 240 La. 966, 126 So.2d 330 (1961).
For the reasons assigned, the judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed, and the judgment of the district court on the main demand in favor of plaintiffs and against the defendants is reinstated as to liability and made the judgment of this Court. Accordingly, judgment is rendered on the main demand in favor of plaintiffs and against the defendants in such sum as may be hereafter fixed, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, for the assessment of damages. The demands of Prudhomme Truck Tank Service, Inc., plaintiff in reconvention, are rejected. All costs are taxed against the defendants in the main demand.
ON REHEARING