Chandler v. Benafel

STEPHENS, P. J.

Plaintiff Bessie Chandler was standing on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of Maple Avenue and Adams Street in Los Angeles when she was struck and injured by the floral truck driven by defendant Kempton and owned by defendants Benafel and Borcherding. The truck had collided with a coupe owned by defendant Maehris and driven by defendant Christian with her consent, and had come up over the curb to where plaintiff was standing. The jury returned a verdict absolving the driver, Christian, and owner, Maehris, of the coupe. At the same time they re

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turned a verdict for plaintiff against the driver and owners of the truck. From judgment on the latter verdict this appeal is taken.

Appellants question the sufficiency of the evidence and declare that the physical facts show that defendant Kempton, the truck driver, was not negligent. The truck was going south on Maple Avenue and was well within the intersection when the coupe, going west, came in contact with the left rear thereof. Kempton testified that thereupon the truck was “tipped over on its right side and turned around and slid up against the curb, straightened up on its four wheels, landing on top of a fire plug”. It made this movement between the point of collision and the fire plug, whirling all the time on its right side. The coupe came to rest within a few feet from where it touched the truck. The bumper on the coupe was shoved out to the left about eighteen inches and the frame horns were bent down a little and four to six inches to the left. These and other circumstances establish the negligence of Kempton and differentiate this case from

Waizman

v.

Black,

101 Cal. App. 610 [281 Pac. 1087], and

Keyes

v.

Hawley,

100 Cal. App. 53 [279 Pac. 674], relied upon by appellants. The jury’s determination that the accident was due to negligence of the truck driver and not the driver of the coupe appears just and reasonable in the light of the evidence.