Wise v. Prescott
1963 La. LEXIS 2297, 151 So. 2d 356, 244 La. 157 (1963)
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Rule of Law:
A public carrier is held to the highest degree of care, and its driver's duty of vigilance is increased when approaching a 'slow' sign, which greatly diminishes the right to assume another motorist will obey a stop sign. A release of liability obtained from an injured party shortly after an accident may be voided for error as to the nature of the contract if the party was physically or mentally impaired and was misled as to the document's purpose.
Facts:
- Mrs. Corinne Clohecy Wise was a fare-paying passenger on a bus owned by New Orleans Public Service, Inc. and driven by Harry J. Miller, Jr.
- The bus was traveling on North Miro Street and approached an intersection with St. Roch Avenue, where a 'slow' sign controlled its path.
- A car driven by Vester Prescott on St. Roch Avenue approached the same intersection, where a 'stop' sign controlled his path.
- Prescott failed to stop at the stop sign and entered the intersection, while Miller, the bus driver, proceeded into the intersection without seeing Prescott's vehicle until the moment of impact.
- The two vehicles collided, causing Wise to be thrown to the floor and sustain injuries.
- The day after the accident, an adjuster for Prescott's insurer, Allstate, visited Wise at her apartment while she was in pain, woozy from medication, bruised, and unable to use her broken glasses.
- The adjuster told Wise that Prescott felt sorry for her and wanted to give her $105 for medical bills, assuring her that accepting it would not affect her case.
- Wise signed a document she could not read, believing it was a receipt for a gift from Prescott, when it was in fact a full release of all claims against Prescott and Allstate.
Procedural Posture:
- Mrs. Corinne Clohecy Wise filed suit in a trial court against Harry J. Miller, Jr., New Orleans Public Service, Inc., Vester Prescott, and Allstate Insurance Company.
- A jury returned a verdict in favor of Wise and against all defendants.
- The trial court entered a judgment on the verdict.
- All defendants appealed to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit.
- The Court of Appeal ruled that the release signed by Wise was a valid compromise, and it dismissed the suit against Prescott and Allstate.
- The Court of Appeal affirmed the negligence finding against Miller and New Orleans Public Service, Inc., but it reduced the amount of the damage award.
- The Louisiana Supreme Court granted certiorari to both Wise (appellant on the release issue) and Miller and New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (appellants on the negligence issue).
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Issue:
Is a public carrier liable for a passenger's injuries, and is a release signed by that passenger invalid for error, when the carrier's driver, facing a slow sign, collides with a car that runs a stop sign and the release was procured from the injured passenger under misleading circumstances shortly after the accident?
Opinions:
Majority - Hawthorne, Justice.
Yes. A public carrier is liable under these circumstances, and the release is invalid. The court reasoned that public carriers owe the highest degree of care to their passengers, and the mere fact of a passenger's injury establishes a prima facie case of negligence. The bus driver was confronted with a 'slow' sign, which increased his duty to exercise extreme caution and vigilance, and greatly decreased his right to assume that Prescott would obey the stop sign. His failure to see the Prescott car until the moment of impact was a breach of this heightened duty. Regarding the release, the court held that it was invalid due to 'error as to the nature of the contract.' The jury was justified in believing Wise's testimony that she was misled by the adjuster and, due to her physical and mental state immediately following the accident, reasonably believed she was signing a simple receipt for a gift, not a document that would extinguish her legal claims.
Concurring - McCaleb, J.
Concurs in the decree.
Analysis:
This decision reinforces the stringent standard of care imposed on common carriers, establishing that a 'slow' sign imposes an affirmative duty of extreme vigilance that can lead to liability even when another party is also negligent. More significantly, the case provides a powerful precedent for invalidating 'rush releases' procured by insurance adjusters from vulnerable accident victims shortly after an injury. By applying the general contract doctrine of 'error as to the nature of the contract' to these facts, the court created a judicial safeguard against predatory settlement practices in the absence of specific legislation, influencing how such releases are scrutinized in future personal injury litigation.
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