Coltman v. City of Beverly Hills

WOOD, Acting P. J.

Jane Coltman, 23 years of age, was struck by a police vehicle owned and operated by defendant City of Beverly Hills and died as a result of injuries received. This action was commenced by her parents and heirs at law to recover damages for her death. The action proceeded to trial against defendant city alone and, a judgment having been rendered in favor of the city, plaintiffs have prosecuted the present appeal.

Miss Coltman rode on a bus to the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive in the City of Beverly Hills and disembarked from the bus at about 1 P. M. on December 26. 1938. She walked north on the sidewalk intending to go to a theatrical performance and as'she was in front of the theatre two vehicles owned by defendant city and operated by its police officers collided at the street intersection while responding to an emergency call. One of the vehicles, a sedan, having been knocked by the force of the collision onto the sidewalk, “pinned” Miss Coltman against the building in such manner that the injuries she received resulted in her death.

The siren on the police sedan was being sounded audibly, as was also the siren on a motorcycle, the other police vehicle involved in the accident. The driver of each of the two police vehicles testified that the sounding of his own siren prevented his hearing the noise made by the siren on the other vehicle. The trial court found both drivers were at the time of the accident engaged in responding to an emergency call; that both had been sounding sirens on their vehicles in a manner reasonably necessary and were operating their vehicles with due regard to the safety of all persons using the highway and without the arbitrary exercise of any of the privileges ac

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corded such vehicles. Respondents contend that these findings are not supported by the evidence.

Bearing in mind the rule that the findings of the trial court must be sustained if there is substantial evidence in their support, it must be held that the attack upon the court’s finding that the vehicles were responding to an emergency call is without merit. Officer McCartney testified that it was his duty to take all emergency calls coming into the police department and that at about 12:45 P. M. in the afternoon in question, when he answered the police desk telephone, “a man in a very excited voice said to send some officers to Lomitas and Camden right away, that there had been a very bad crash”. Officer McCartney relayed this information to Sergeant Mannagh, who testified that he immediately sent out a radio call to police cruiser car 4 and police motorcycles 3 and 7 to investigate the accident and instructed car 4 to call the station if an ambulance was needed. Sergeant Mannagh further testified that the regulations and directions of the Beverly Hills police department provided that such a call as he gave over the radio was to be treated by the officers receiving the message as an emergency call. The radio messages were received by Officer McBride, who was operating motorcycle 7, and by Officer James, who was operating police cruiser car 4. Both officers immediately directed their vehicles toward the intersection of Beverly Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, both sounding their sirens and both traveling, according to their testimony, at a speed of from 35 to 40 miles per hour. As they approached the intersection all visible traffic was standing still. As the automobile and the motorcycle collided in the intersection the two sirens blended so that the driver of neither vehicle could hear the siren on the other.