Benjamin W. Dart, III and Ruth Anderson Dart v. Waste Management of Louisiana, LLC, Koiey Ferguson, ACE American Insurance Company ( 2023 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
BENJAMIN W. DART, III, AND NO. 2023 CW 0553
RUTH ANDERSON
VERSUS
WASTE MANAGEMENT OF
LOUISIANA, LLC, KOIEY
FERGUSON, ACE AMERICAN NOVEMBER 1, 2023
INSURANCE COMPANY
In Re: Waste Management of Louisiana, LLC and ACE American
Insurance Company, applying for supervisory writs,
19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton
Rouge, No. 695414.
BEFORE: McCLENDON, HESTER, AND MILLER, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. Pursuant to our de novo review of the
supporting and opposing summary judgment documents, we conclude
that defendants presented sufficient evidence to establish that
there is no genuine issue of material fact that the accident was
caused solely by the fault of plaintiff in failing to maintain a
sharp lookout and in failing to follow at a distance from the
preceding vehicle that was sufficient to allow him to stop
safely under normal circumstances. See Hooper v. Lopez, 2021-
1442 (La. App. 1st Cir. 6/22/22), 344 So. 3d 656, 662. As a
following motorist, pursuant to La. R.S. 32:81, plaintiff is
legally presumed to be at fault for the accident. Plaintiff
failed to produce factual support sufficient to establish the
existence of a genuine issue of material fact to rebut the
presumption of negligence against him. Moreover, plaintiff
failed to produce factual support to demonstrate that any hazard
presented by the garbage truck was unavoidable or that any
action or inaction on the part of the defendants was a cause-in-
f act of the rear-end collision. Accordingly, we reverse the
April 13, 2023 judgment that denied defendants' motion for
summary judgment. The motion for summary judgment is granted
and plaintiffs' claims against defendants, Waste Management of
Louisiana LLC and Ace American Insurance Company, are dismissed
with prejudice.
PMc
CHH
SMM
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT