 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Gates v. Honey8/19/2005
Before BROWN, CARAWAY and MOORE, JJ.
In early 1996, the pick-up trucks driven by Wanda Honey and Larry Gates were involved in a collision in Gates's lane of travel on a state highway. Honey had consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana before the accident. Gates initially filed suit against Honey. Honey filed a reconventional demand against Gates and also named the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development ("DOTD") as a third-party defendant, alleging that the shoulder drop-off at the site of the accident caused the loss of control of the vehicle and the collision with Gates. After settlement of the drivers' claims between themselves, only Honey's claim against the DOTD was tried before a jury. The jury assessed Honey with 85% fault and the DOTD with 15% fault and awarded damages. For the following reasons, we reverse the finding of DOTD fault.
Facts
Wanda Honey sued the DOTD after she was involved in a traffic accident with a vehicle driven by Larry Gates. On the afternoon of March 15, 1996, Honey and her boyfriend, John Daugherty, traveled to Crossett, Arkansas to join some of Daugherty's co-workers for a cookout. On the way to the party, Daugherty purchased a case of beer. He had also brought along a bag of marijuana. Honey testified that she drank at least three beers during the evening and shared two marijuana joints with Daugherty. She had not eaten a full meal that day. Honey and Daugherty left the party about 6:00 p.m. Sometime before 8:00 p.m., after they stopped to get something to eat, Daugherty asked Honey to drive because he was impaired. Honey was driving south on Louisiana Highway 142 in Morehouse Parish when the accident occurred.
Honey testified that as she approached a curve, Gates's vehicle exited the curve traveling north and appeared to be in her lane. Honey veered right, off the shoulder and then jerked her wheel left to get around Gates. At trial, Gates claimed that Honey came into his lane of travel. Gouge marks in the pavement demonstrated that the vehicles collided approximately one to two feet in Gates's lane.
Photographs of the accident location taken by Honey's accident investigator six weeks after the accident were submitted into evidence. They depicted a drop-off from the road surface to the shoulder from the point of impact to a distance of 111 feet north ranging from 3-3/8 to 6 inches at the point of impact. A DOTD district manager conceded that the drop-off depicted in one photograph would have been fixed as soon as the DOTD was made aware of it.
At trial, the DOTD presented testimony showing that Highway 142 was first placed in the DOTD system in 1938 and widened and overlaid in 1949, 1952, 1965 and 1981. No work was performed on the shoulder within the three months before the accident, although the accident location was last inspected on March 5, 1996. DOTD personnel routinely inspect the road. Repairs are normally scheduled for shoulder drop-offs of three inches, but at five inches or more, repair is performed immediately.
On the evening of the accident, Trooper Kevin Reeves investigated the site and noted no evidence that Honey left the roadway. He neither reported any shoulder drop-offs nor discovered any skid marks. At trial, DOTD's expert in accident reconstruction, Dr. Richard Robertson, and Honey's expert, Danny McGrew, confirmed the lack of such marks.
Gates, Honey and Daugherty were all injured from the accident. Honey's blood alcohol level was 100 milligrams per deciliter (.10 grams percent alcohol) at 9:55 p.m. Her urine tested positive for both alcohol and marijuana. Gates's blood alcohol level was negative.
Gates filed suit against Honey
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Louisiana DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|