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Craig v. Hebert2/2/2000
JIMMIE C. PETERS JUDGE
AFFIRMED
This personal injury suit arose out of a collision between a vehicle driven by Larry Craig, Jr., and a farm tractor driven by Robert Brooks. Craig and his wife, Paula, brought suit individually and on behalf of their minor son, Dondre* Craig (Dondre*), against Brooks, Ronald R. Hebert, Ronald R. Hebert, Inc., and Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance Company (Farm Bureau). Issue was never joined as to Ronald R. Hebert and Ronald R. Hebert, Inc. Brooks and Farm Bureau filed a cross claim against Craig, claiming contribution and indemnity for the amount of any judgment cast against them in favor of Dondre*. After a bench trial, the trial court found Brooks' fault to be the sole cause of the accident and awarded individual damages to all three plaintiffs and against Brooks and Farm Bureau. The defendants then filed an appeal of the judgment. After filing the appeal, the defendants settled the claims of Mr. and Mrs. Craig, leaving only the judgment of $30,000.00 plus medical expenses awarded to Dondre* at issue. For the following reasons, we affirm the remainder of the trial court's judgment in all respects.
DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD
Ronald R. Hebert, Inc., is a corporation which operates a sugar cane farm operation in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. At approximately five o'clock p.m. on November 13, 1996, Robert Brooks, an employee of the corporation, was driving a tractor westbound on Martin Luther King Drive in Iberia Parish, near Jeanerette, Louisiana. Brooks was in the course and scope of his employment with the corporation at the time, and Farm Bureau provided liability insurance coverage for his employer. As he attempted to make a left turn, his tractor struck a vehicle being driven by Craig, who was in the process of passing the tractor. Dondre*, a guest passenger in his father's automobile, sustained seat belt burns to his neck and chest and lacerations to his face, as a result of the accident.
At the point of the accident, Martin Luther King Drive is a rural highway with a speed limit between twenty-five and thirty-five miles per hour and with sugar cane fields on each side of the highway. Brooks did not appear at trial, and his testimony was presented by deposition. Brooks testified that because it was sugar cane season, he had been busy all day, hauling sugar cane to the mill. According to Brooks, at the time of the accident, he was on his way to clean out a drain in a field adjacent to Martin Luther King Drive. As he approached his destination, he looked for the presence of traffic in both directions and activated his left turn signal light. Believing the way to be clear, Brooks began his left turn maneuver and struck the right back wheel of Craig's vehicle with the tractor's left front wheel. The impact caused the Craig vehicle to flip and land upside down.
Craig testified that he was also traveling in a westerly direction on Martin Luther King Drive. When he first observed Brooks' tractor, he was stopped at a stop sign approximately forty yards behind the tractor. According to Craig, he accelerated and before reaching the tractor, had reached a speed of approximately forty-five miles per hour. Craig checked the eastbound lane of traffic and, seeing no other vehicles on the road and no indication that the tractor was going to do anything other than proceed forward, began to pass the tractor. Dondre* occupied the passenger seat at the time of the accident.
Finding Craig to be most credible, the trial court determined that Brooks did not activate his left turn signal and that he failed to make sure that the road was safe and free of oncoming or approaching traffic before executing the left turn. A
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