103 Ga. App. 264 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1961
1. Without quoting the entire petition the pertinent portions of count 2, excluding allegations as to jurisdiction and the plaintiff’s injuries, were substantially as follows: The plaintiff was a guest in the Marsh station wagon, the host driver was driving in a northerly direction on East Broad Street in Savannah, Georgia, and the ranch wagon was being driven in a southerly direction on said street, “that at the time and place aforesaid, the defendant Gladys Marsh, upon approaching the intersection of Gaston Street with East Broad Street, and before reaching the center of said intersection, made a left turn and without first stopping to allow oncoming traffic to pass, as required by law, and crossed the center line of the said East Broad Street contrary to law, in an attempt to enter the said Gaston Street so as to travel in a westerly direction, with
In its ruling on the demurrers of the defendant Marsh the trial court cited and relied upon the decision of this court in Parker v. Johnson, 97 Ga. App. 261 (102 S. E. 2d 917), where it was said “ ‘Ordinarily questions of negligence, gross negligence, contributoiy negligence, and whose negligence was the proximate cause of an injury and related questions are for the jury alone, and the courts will decline to- solve such questions on demurrer or by a decision on the general grounds of the motion for new tidal except in plain, palpable, and indisputable cases.’ Brown v. Binns, 87 Ga. App. 485 (2) (74 S. E. 2d 370); McGowan v. Chmp, 87 Ga. App. 671, 674 (75 S. E. 2d 350). Gross negligence is the failure to exercise slight diligence. Slight diligence means that care which every man of common sense, howsoever inattentive he may be, takes of his own property. Code § 105-203.” In that case it was held to be a question for the jury as to whether the host driver was guilty of gross negligence in suddenly reducing her speed from 40 miles per' hour to 5 miles per hour in preparing to make a left turn into a private driveway, and another automobile, driven by another defendant, was allegedly being driven too fast and following too close, crashed into the rear of the host automobile. In Fletcher v. Abbott, 92 Ga. App. 364, 366 (88 S. E. 2d 445, it was said, “It may be gross negligence for one to hit a plainly visible lighted object in the road at night. West v. Rosenberg, 44 Ga. App. 211 (1) (160 S. E. 808). This court does not think it should be said as a matter of law that it cannot be gross negligence for one to hit a plainly visible vehicle under like circumstances because of lack of control over one’s automobile, although the vehicle has made a sudden stop, as this would be a jury question and depend on all the circumstances of the case. If that is so, it may be argued with even greater
The defendant Marsh was charged with various acts of negligence per se (see Code Ann. §§ 68-1716 (a), 68-1647, 68-1648 and 68-1649), which were alleged to be gross negligence. “Be it remembered that the petition is being considered on general demurrer, and also that the question is not whether the defendant was in fact guilty of gross negligence, but is wihether upon proof of the allegations of the petition, without more, a jury would be authorized to find that he was negligent in that degree.” Smith v. Hodges, 44 Ga. App. 318, 321 (161 S. E. 284). Nor can it be said under the allegations of the petition that the sole proximate cause of the collision was the negligence of the codefendant. The trial court did not err in overruling the general demurrers of the defendant Marsh.
Judgment affirmed.