205 S.W.2d 11 | Tenn. | 1947
This is a suit brought by Bailey against the Coal Company, for personal injuries and property damage he sustained when he drove his automobile into the rear of the Coal Company's truck which was illegally double-parked at night, without lights, on the Virginia side of State Street in Bristol. In the Circuit Court Bailey recovered *244 judgment for $1,500, which after motion for new trial, was approved by the Trial Judge. On appeal the judgment was affirmed by a majority of the Court of Appeals. On account of the dissenting opinion we granted certiorari, have heard argument and the case is before us for disposition.
The weight of the evidence is that the accident occurred in a dark part of the street on a night when it was raining and snowing. Bailey, who was driving his car at a moderate speed of 15 to 20 miles per hour, had his vision impaired not only by the conditions of the weather and the unlighted street, but by the lights of approaching cars. The Company's truck was parked double without lights and in direct violation of the City Ordinance.
The only real question presented by the petition forcertiorari is whether or not Bailey was guilty of proximate contributory negligence as a matter of law.
In this case, "proximate contributory negligence as a matter of law" is to be determined by the application of Virginia law, of which under Chap. 137, Public Acts of 1943, Code sec. 9773.4, we are required to take judicial notice. Under Virginian law, the definition of "proximate contributory negligence as a matter of law," is practically indentical with our own and is thus given in a recent Virginia case: "If the question of contributory negligence depends on a state of facts, upon which reasonable and fair-minded men might arrive at different conclusions, it is then a question for the jury, and their verdict should not be disturbed. But where the uncontroverted evidence and the direct inferences therefrom are such that reasonable and fair-minded men should not differ in their conclusions, the question then becomes one of law, and must be decided by the Court. Etheridge v.Norfolk Southern R. Co.,
In Main St. Transfer Storage Co. v. Smith,
We find that the law of Virginia, as it is expressed in recent opinions of the Supreme Court of that State, is in accord with the Smith Case, supra, and hold it is not the duty of the driver of an automobile, as a matter of law, to operate his vehicle while driving at night, so that he can stop within the range of his lights. Body, Fender Brake Corporation v.Matter,
It comes back to this: Drivers on highways must use reasonable care, and reasonable care is flexible standard. Sometimes it means a high degree of care. Its presence or absence is preeminently a jury question. Boggs v. Plybon,
The case of Twyman v. Adkins,
All assignments of error are overruled, and the judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
NEIL, C.J., and PREWITT and TOMLINSON, J.J., concur.
BURNETT, J., not participating. *247