Colmes v. Jos. M. Zamoiski Co.

Gilbert, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellee, The Jos. M. Zamoiski Co. (Zamoiski), sued John Emerett Colmes (Colmes), and his employer, Francis O. Day Co., Inc. (Day), in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County. As a result of that suit, Zamoiski recovered, in a non-jury trial, a judgment for $6,458.07 against Colmes and Day.

The sum of $5,258.07 of that judgment was for property damage and $1,200.00 was for the loss of use of the vehicle belonging to Zamoiski. ⁷⁸ Colmes and Day assail the judgment in a two-fold manner, that is, (1) that the trial judge erred in finding Colmes and Day negligent “notwithstanding the emergency existent,” and (2) that the trial judge likewise erred in failing to find that Zamoiski was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. We agree that Zamoiski was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, and we reverse the judgment of the trial court. In view of our holding, we do not reach the appellant’s first contention. The testimony established that on March 16, 1971, on a bright, clear, sunshiny day, at approximately 3:45 p.m., Colmes was operating a 10 wheel tandem dump truck, owned by Day, in a westerly direction on the Capitol Beltway, en route to Rockville, Maryland from Brandy-wine, Maryland.

At that time the Capitol Beltway was a three lane highway. 1 Colmes was in the extreme right lane behind what he described as a dark green, Ford flatbed truck. Just as Colmes changed to the center lane, apparently in order that he could pass the Ford truck, a wheelbarrow fell off the side of the Ford and Colmes’s vehicle collided with the wheelbarrow. He stated that he dragged it “ten or fifteen feet.” The reason that Colmes assigned for hitting the wheelbarrow was that he was unable to swerve into the left lane because of the presence there of other vehicles. The point of impact was east of the Capitol Beltway’s interchange with St. Barnabas Road, and just beyond the crest of a slight rise.

Colmes testified that he observed that no one was behind him in the center lane so he stopped his truck completely on the roadway and put on his “blinkers” (emergency flashers). He alighted from the truck in order to extricate the wheelbarrow from underneath the vehicle. Colmes said, “So just as I was laying down to get the wheelbarrow I looked up and saw this truck [Zamoiski]. I saw this truck coming.

I got out and waved my hand. He didn’t see me. He ran into the back of ⁷⁹ it.” The color of the dump truck was yellow. It also was seemingly partially covered with generous portions of rust.

The testimony of Trooper Michael P. Musial was that visibility from the point of impact was clear, looking to points eastward, for approximately one-third of a mile. Zamoiski’s driver said that he was travelling at a speed of “approximately fifty-five” miles per hour, “no more than sixty.” He testified that he saw no directional signals, brake lights, flashers, or other type of signal, and Day’s truck was “maybe seventy-five to a hundred feet” ahead of him when he first saw it. He was unable to change lanes to avoid the collision because there was “traffic on both sides” and he “couldn’t stop.” He applied his brakes and was travelling “forty, forty-five” miles per hour at the point of impact. There was no testimony relative to any skid marks.

The trial judge found that the point of impact occurred : “* * * on a slight down grade, but we do not feel that being on the down grade would act as a complete bar to say that you suddenly come upon a vehicle you could not see a distance back. The photographs do not show it, and we do not feel there are such grades on the beltway, and we are fairly well familiar with this particular one. “Insofar as lights are concerned the defendant [Colmes] testifies he turned on warning lights, but he does not know whether they were on the back or not. He had checked them that morning, and he knew they were on in the front, but he did not notice this time. The plaintiff said he did not see any warning lights.

The defendant indicates he crawled out from under the truck when he saw this truck [Zamoiski] coming and tried to signal. We have some problem rational ⁸⁰ izing, reasoning out this happening with the light situation, but certainly in the center of the Capitol Beltway no one has any reason to see a truck stopped. You expect everyone is moving along unless there is some warning, and while we feel that the plaintiff saw the truck in front of him we are not convinced by any means that