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Hicks v. State12/7/2001
KOSTELKA, J., dissents with written reasons.
The defendant, State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development ("DOTD"), appeals a judgment in favor of plaintiffs ("The Hicks") for damages resulting from an automobile accident. For the following reasons, the trial court's judgment is affirmed, insofar as it finds liability on the part of DOTD. The judgment is amended as to quantum, and, as amended, affirmed.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On the night of September 14, 1991, Alvis A. Hicks, Sr. and his wife, Ruth Laverne Welch Hicks, were traveling on La. Hwy. 846. Mr. Hicks was driving his 1978 Thunderbird. As the couple neared the intersection of the state highway with Barr Road, Mr. Hicks ran off the roadway and side-swiped a large tree, injuring Mrs. Hicks, and seriously injuring Mr. Hicks. Mrs. Hicks' relatively minor injuries required a short hospital stay, but Mr. Hicks' spine was injured, which rendered him a quadriplegic (tetraplegic) and required his hospitalization until his death on February 21, 1992.
Mrs. Hicks and her five adult children filed this survival action and wrongful death action for the injury and death of Mr. Hicks. Mrs. Hicks also sought damages for her own injuries sustained in the accident. Mrs. Hicks died of causes unrelated to the accident during the pendency of the litigation, and the Hicks children were substituted in her stead. After a judge trial, a judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiffs, totaling slightly in excess of $3.5 million.
STIPULATIONS
We first address those matters not directly at issue in this litigation, which were addressed by stipulation of the parties at trial. Alvis A. Hicks Sr. was born Nov. 18, 1921 and died on February 21,1992 at the age of 70, while a patient in Ochsner Foundation Hospital, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Ruth Welch Hicks was born on July 4, 1924 and died on July 2, 1997 in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, at the age of 72, of causes unrelated to the accident giving rise to this litigation. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks were married from Nov. 6, 1941 until the death of Mr. Hicks in 1992. Between 1944 and 1955, five children were born of the marriage. These adult children have been substituted as parties plaintiff on the death of Mrs. Hicks.
The medical expenses of Mr. Hicks, related to his injuries, totaled $437,351.95. Mrs. Hicks' medical expenses for her injuries were $4,326.91. The roadway used by Mr. Hicks was a state highway under the "garde" of the Louisiana DOTD. The parties stipulated to the loss of $63,498 in net income to Mrs. Hicks as a result of her husband's death.
EXPERT EVIDENCE PRESENTED
An overview of the evidence adduced is necessary to an understanding of our resolution of this case. The accident occurred in the middle curve of a series of curves on La. Highway 846. At the time of the accident, this series of curves was preceded by a winding road sign, which, according to the expert witnesses at trial, is intended to indicate that a motorist should anticipate three or more curves in the roadway within close proximity to each other.
At the time of the accident, the advisory speed plate on the winding road sign prior to the curve provided for a 35 mph advisory speed. While a posted speed is the highest legal speed allowed for the roadway, the advisory speed is a suggested discretionary speed, a speed at which a driver will feel comfortable because the centrifugal forces acting on him (and his vehicle) will not be excessive. The curve can be driven at a higher speed, but greater attention to steering, braking, and road surface and conditions must be exercised.
An intersecting
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