Court Opinion

ID: 9585804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:04:00.453158+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:15.111372
License: Public Domain

Gardner, P. J.,
dissenting. 1. I will deal with the contention that the cause of action of the plaintiffs against the defendant Hicks, who resides in a county other than the county in which the suit is brought, is dependent upon the plaintiffs maintaining their cause of action against the alleged joint tortfeasor, who is a resident of the county in which the suit is pending. See Peake v. Stovall, 50 Ga. App. 595 (179 S. E. 287). The defendant Hicks urges that his demurrer should have been sustained for want of *370jurisdiction of Hicks, because the plaintiffs failed to allege gross negligence on -the part of the defendant Fletcher. In support of this contention, see Warren v. Rushing, 144 Ga. 612 (87 S. E. 775). See also Fowler v. Southern Airlines, 192 Ga. 845 (16 S. E. 2d 897), and Ryner v. Duke, 205 Ga. 280 (3) (53 S. E. 2d 362).
As to the contention that the allegations of the petition as amended do not set out a cause of action against the defendant Fletcher for gross negligence, see Code § 105-203, which reads: “In general, slight diligence is that degree of care which every man of common sense, howsoever inattentive he may be, exercises under the same or similar circumstances. Applied to the preservation of property, slight diligence means that care which every man of common sense, howsoever inattentive he may be, takes of his own property. The absence of such care is termed gross negligence.”
It is elementary that a petition must be construed most strongly against the ¡deader. In the instant case, the petition alleges that the defendant Fletcher was driving his automobile at a speed greater than 55 miles per hour; that such speed was in excess of the legal speed at the time and place, and that such speed was unlawful, dangerous, and reckless; that he followed another vehicle (a pick-up truck) too closely; and that the defendant Fletcher did not have his vehicle under control. It is contended by the defendant Hicks that such allegations may have indicated ordinary negligence, but were not gross negligence; that such allegations are not sufficient to allege “the want of that care which every man of common sense, howsoever inattentive he may be takes of his own property.” In this connection I might call attention to Peavy v. Peavy, 36 Ga. App. 202. The violation of the speed limit fixed by law does not necessarily constitute gross negligence. To allege a cause of action based on gross negligence, something more must be alleged than mere violation of a traffic law. Southern Railway v. Davis, 132 Ga. 812, 817 (65 S. E. 131).
It must be noted that the plaintiffs base the allegation on the gross negligence of Fletcher and the ordinary negligence of Hicks. Paragraph 18 of the petition reads as follows:
“18. That the negligence of the said John C. Hicks and the gross negligence of the said J. Emmett Fletcher together constitute the sole and proximate cause of such collision, your petitioner being without fault.”
*371Construing the petition most strongly against the plaintiffs, they are bound by the allegations of negligence as set out in the petition. The petition in the instant case does not allege any such circumstances as would make a violation of the legal speed limit, or following another vehicle too closely, gross negligence. The petition alleges that the road was straight for one mile, that the road was 18 feet wide with a 4-foot shoulder on each side on which one could drive. In this connection we are mindful of the general rule that questions of negligence are generally for the determination of a jury. It is equally as well settled that in plain and indisputable cases the court should decide questions of negligence as a matter of law. See McClure v. Union Lumber Co., 89 Ga. App. 424 (79 S. E. 2d 412).
I come next to consider whether or not the petition is sufficient to show that the negligence of the defendant Hicks was the proximate cause or contributed to the proximate cause of the alleged injuries. It will be observed that the allegations of negligence charged to Hicks are set forth in paragraph 17 of the petition. That paragraph charges that the defendant Hicks was driving at a fast, reckless, and unlawful rate of speed; that he failed to dim his lights, although he was signaled to do so; that he failed to drive to the right of the defendant Fletcher’s car; and that he ran into Fletcher’s automobile. The petition does not allege that the defendant Fletcher was blinded by the failure of Hicks to dim lights, nor does it allege that such failure in any way was a contributing cause of the collision. It is not claimed that the negligence of the defendant Hicks had anything to do with the collision. It is true that the petition alleges that Hicks was negligent in running his automobile into the automobile of the defendant Fletcher. In my opinion the allegations are mere conclusions of the pleader, not supported by the facts alleged in the petition. See Peavy v. Peavy, supra, and Lee v. City of Atlanta, 197 Ga. 518 (29 S. E. 2d 774). The only acts of negligence alleged in the amended petition against the defendant Hicks are excessive speed and failure to turn to the right of the highway. It is the law that, in order to make one liable for injury to another, such negligence alleged must be the proximate cause or must contribute to the proximate cause of the injuries or damages. See Stallings v. Georgia Power Co., 67 Ga. App. 435 (20 S. E. 2d *372776). Proximate cause has been defined as the immediate, direct, and efficient cause of the accident. Atlanta Gas Light Co. v. Mills, 78 Ga. App. 690 (51 S. E. 2d 705). It is alleged in the petition that the defendant Fletcher was driving in excess of 55 miles per hour and following within 55 feet of a pick-up truck, which was traveling about 50 miles per hour; that the pick-up truck stopped without warning; and that Fletcher drove his automobile northward across the center line of the highway for about 10 feet and stopped about 3 feet over the center line. Thus it will be observed that the petition shows that the defendant Fletcher drove his automobile across the center and stopped on the wrong side of the road, and further shows that Fletcher was aware of approaching traffic. The negligence of the defendant Fletcher in so stopping his vehicle on the wrong side of the road was the sole proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries.
In my opinion the case at bar is strongly similar to Pfeifer v. Yellow Cab Co., 88 Ga. App. 221 (76 S. E. 2d 225). See also Hayes v. Simpson, 83 Ga. App. 22 (62 S. E. 2d 441), and Hayes v. Trewhitt, 83 Ga. App. 27 (62 S. E. 2d 445). I call attention in this connection to Brinson v. Davis, 32 Ga. App. 37 (122 S. E. 643) rendered prior to the case next hereinabove cited. In the latter case the petition alleged that the railroad was negligent, in (1) maintaining a blinding arc light over a crossing, (2) illegally obstructing traffic, and (3) failing to have a watchman or an electric bell at the crossing. The defendant in that case filed a general demurrer, which was sustained. This court held: “While it is true, as shown by the petition, that the plaintiff was a guest of the operator of the automobile which collided with the defendant’s train, and, therefore, that any negligence of the operator of the automobile is not imputable to the plaintiff, it is our judgment that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover, because the allegations of his petition show as a matter of law that his injuries were occasioned solely by the negligence or want of ordinary care of the driver of the automobile in driving his machine upon the crossing when he could not see what was upon the crossing; and that the acts of negligence alleged against the defendant did not contribute to, or concur with the negligence of the driver in bringing about the plaintiff’s injuries.”
In conclusion, I call attention to the following cases: Central *373of Ga. Ry. Co. v. Adams, 39 Ga. App. 577; Tidwell v. Atlanta, B. & C. R., 42 Ga. App. 744; Carroll v. Georgia Power Co., 47 Ga. App. 518; Hallman v. Powell, 60 Ga. App. 339; and Evans v. Georgia Northern R. Co., 78 Ga. App. 709. I think those cases are conclusive to the effect that the acts of the defendant Hicks, under the allegations of the petition as to negligence, were not the proximate cause of, nor did they contribute to the proximate cause of, the alleged injuries of the plaintiff.
The petition as amended negatives by its allegations that the negligence of the defendant Hicks was the proximate cause of the alleged injuries or contributed thereto. To the contrary, the allegations of the petition, well pleaded, show that the alleged injury was caused solely by the alleged negligence of the defendant Fletcher.
I think that the court erred in overruling the demurrer to the petition as against the defendant Hicks and the defendant Fletcher.