FERMIN SALAS

MAY 31, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. CHENOWETH, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 1093]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1093) for the relief of Fermin Salas, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to appropriate the sum of $400 to Fermin Salas, of Albuquerque, N. Mex., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for property damages and personal injuries sustained by him as the result of an accident which occurred on March 16, 1943, when his automobile was struck by an Army reconnaissance car on North Sixth Street in Albuquerque, N. Mex.

The facts in this case will be found fully set forth in Senate Report No. 891, of the Seventy-eighth Congress, second session, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

Your committee concurs in the recommendation of the Senate that the bill do pass.

[S. Rept. No. 891, 78th Cong., 2d sess.]

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The War Department's report states that on March 16, 1943, at about 6:50 a. m., an Army reconnaissance car, operated by an enlisted man on official business, was proceeding south on North Sixth Street in Albuquerque, N. Mex., at a speed of about 25 miles per hour. At the same time a 1936 Chevrolet sedan, owned and operated by Fermin Salas, of Albuquerque, N. Mex., was proceeding eastward at a speed of about 20 miles per hour on West Mountain Road, a preferential thoroughfare, which is protected at its intersection with North Sixth Street by stop signs. The civilian driver's vision of North Sixth Street was obstructed by

buildings at the corner, and he failed to see the approaching Army vehicle which entered the intersection without stopping. The Army vehicle crashed into the left side of the civilian vehicle. As a result of the accident the civilian vehicle was extensively damaged and Mr. Salas sustained minor personal injuries for which he was treated at St. Joseph's Hospital, Albuquerque.

The investigation disclosed that the accident was not caused by any fault or negligence on the part of Mr. Salas, but was due wholly to the negligence of the Army driver. Mr. Salas filed a claim with the War Department in which he asked for $181.44 for personal injury and $295.92 for property damage. He thereafter advised the War Department that he would be willing to settle his claim for $400. In the War Department's report to your committee it is suggested, in view of the fact that Mr. Salas sustained both personal injuries and property damage, and as S 1093 covered personal injuries only (in the sum of $181.44), that the bill be amended to award claimant $400 in full settlement of all claims for property damages and personal injuries. Your committee concur in this suggestion, have amended the bill accordingly, and recommend favorable consideration of the proposed legislation.

Appended hereto is the report of the War Department.

APRIL 15, 1944.

Hon. ALLEN J. ELLENDER,

Chairman, Committee on Claims, United States Senate.

*

DEAR SENATOR ELLENDER: The War Department has no objection to the enactment of S. 1093, Seventy-eighth Congress, which would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to Fermin Salas, Albuquerque, N. Mex., the sum of $181.44 * * in full settlement of all claims of the said Fermin Salas against the United States on account of personal injuries sustained by him on March 16, 1943, in Albuquerque, N. Mex., when the automobile which he was driving was struck by a United States Army motor vehicle

On March 16, 1943, at about 6:50 a. m., an Army reconnaissance car, operated by an enlisted man on official business, was proceeding south on North Sixth Street, in Albuquerque, N. Mex., at a speed of about 25 miles per hour. At the same time a 1936 Chevrolet sedan, owned and operated by Fermin Salas, of Albuquerque, N. Mex., was proceeding eastward at a speed of about 20 miles per hour on West Mountain Road, a preferential thoroughfare, which is protected at its intersection with North Sixth Street by stop signs. The civilian driver's vision of North Sixth Street was obstructed by buildings at the corner, and he failed to see the approaching Army vehicle which entered the intersection without stopping. The Army vehicle crashed into the left side of the civilian vehicle. As a result of the accident the civilian vehicle was extensively damaged and Mr. Salas sustained minor personal injuries for which he was treated at St. Josephs Hospital, Albuquerque.

Dr. M. K. Wylder, who examined Mr. Salas, made the following statement on June 8, 1943:

"On the morning of March 16, 1943, I examined one Fermin Salas in the emergency room of St. Josephs Hospital and I found no serious injury to Mr. Salas only bruises and slight shock which may have been a result of general shaking up." The day after the accident Mr. Salas was examined by Dr. H. W. Goelitz of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Hospital in Albuquerque, who, on June 8, 1943, made the following statement:

"On March 17, 1943, I examined an employee of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Co. who gave his name as Fermin Salas and stated that he had been injured in an automobile accident on the previous day. The result of my examination disclosed the following conditions: Contusion of the chest and green stick fracture of one rib on left side. X-rays were made which confirmed the diagnosis. Mr. Salas was released to return to work on April 11, 1943."

The board of officers which investigated this accident found that it was not caused by any fault or negligence on the part of Mr. Salas, but was due wholly to the negligence of the Army driver. The board in its findings stated that(* * * the proximate cause of accident was failure of Sergeant the Army driver], driving the Army vehicle, to stop at intersection that this ailure was due to negligence of Sergeant the Army driver] in obeying traffic regulations of the city of Albuquerque."

The record contains no evidence of the ainount of the medical and hospital expenses, if any, incurred by Mr. Salas as a result of this accident.

On June 8, 1943, Mr. G. C. Temple, general manager of the Joe Heaston Motor Co., of Albuquerque, certified that the Salas car was reasonably worth $300 before the accident and that after the accident it had a salvage value of $35. The record shows Mr. Salas incurred a towing charge of $5 for removing his car from the scene of the accident. The total property damage sustained by Mr. Salas as a result of the accident, therefore, amounted to $270.

On April 8, 1943, Mr. Salas filed a claim with the War Department in which he asked for $181.44 for personal injury and $295.92 for property damage. In view of the introduction of this bill and H. R. 2598 and H. R. 2602, Seventy-eighth Congress (similar bills for the relief of Mr. Salas), no action has been taken by the War Department on the claim.

On December 23, 1943, the War Department dispatched a letter to Mr. Salas requesting (1) that he submit bills showing the amount of any medical or hospital expenses incurred by him as a result of this accident, and (2) that he advise the Department whether he was willing to accept the sum of $270 (the amount of the damage to his automobile) plus the amount of any medical or hospital expenses incurred by him in full satisfaction of his claim. In reply to that inquiry Mr. Sales wrote the War Department on February 4, 1944, as follows:

66* ** * I am willing to settie my claim against the Government as a result of the auto accident, for the sum of $400.

"I do not believe that your offer of $270 is adequate. I feel that I should be paid at least the sum of $400, which would pay all of my claim for property damage, personal injuries, hospital and medical bills.'

Inasmuch as the evidence clearly establishes that the sole cause of the accident was the negligence of the Army driver in attempting to cross a preferential highway, which was protected by stop signs, without stopping and assuring himself that such a movement could be made in safety, it is the view of the War Department that Mr. Salas should be compensated in a reasonable amount for the damages sustained by him.

On May 3, 1943, H. R. 2598, was introduced in the House of Representatives, which would authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to pay "to Fermin Salas, Albuquerque, N. Mex., the sum of $181.44 * * * in full settlement of all claims of the said Fermin Salas against the United States on account of personal injuries sustained by him on March 16, 1943, in Albuquerque, N. Mex., when the automobile which he was driving was struck by a United States Army motor vehicle." On the same date another bill, H. R. 2602, was introduced in the House of Representatives, which would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay "to Fermin Salas, of Albuquerque, N. Mex., the sum of $600 in full satisfaction of his claim against the United States for property damages and personal injury sustained by him on March 16, 1943, when a car driven by Fermin Salas was struck by an Army reconnaissance automobile on North Sixth Street, Albuquerque, N. Mex." Those two bills were referred to the War Department by the chairman, Committee on Claims, House of Representatives, with the request that a report be submitted on the merits of the bills.

The War Department has submitted a report to the chairman, Committee on Claims, House of Representatives, in which it was stated that while the proposed award of $600 provided in H. R. 2602, Seventy-eighth Congress, for property damages and personal injuries was excessive, the Department would interpose no objection to a total award to Mr. Salas for personal injuries and property damage in an amount not exceeding $400 ($130 for personal injuries; and $270 for property damage) which it is believed would constitue a fair and reasonable settlement of all the damages sustained by Salas in this accident. The War Department in its report to the chairman of the House Claims Committee further stated that

"Since H. R. 2598 provides only for an award for personal injuries, while H. R. 2602 provides for an award for both personal injuries and property damages, it is suggested that I. R. 2598 be not favorably considered, and that H. R. 2602 be so amended as to authorize the payment to Mr. Salas of an amount not exceeding $400."

In view of the fact that Mr. Salas sustained both personal injuries and property damage it is suggested that S. 1093 be amended by striking out everything after the words "the sum of" in line 6 of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "$400, in full settlement of all claims of the said Fermin Salas against the

United States for property damages and personal injuries sustained by him as the result of an accident which occurred on March 16, 1943, when his automobile was struck by an Army reconnaissance car on North Sixth Street, Albuquerque, New Mexico."

The fiscal effect of the bill is manifest.

A similar report has been submitted to the chairman, Committee on Claims, House of Representatives, on H. R. 2598 and H. R. 2602, Seventy-eighth Congress, similar bills for the relief of Mr. Salas.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report.

Sincerely yours,

HENRY L. STIMSON, Secretary of War.

O