Hershey v. Laswell

MARKS, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of defendants and cross-complainants for damages resulting from a motor vehicle collision which occurred in the city of Bakersfield on the evening of August 13, 1941.

The case was tried before the court without a jury and the findings absolved defendant Laswell from negligence and contributory negligence and found Fred A. Hershey guilty of negligence that proximately caused the accident. Plaintiffs attack these findings as being contrary to the evidence. This is the principal question presented here. It will require a brief summary of that portion of the evidence tending to support the findings and judgment, disregarding conflicting evidence supporting the position of plaintiffs, which is amply sufficient to support a judgment in their favor had this evidence been accepted as true by the trial court.

Union Avenue is a public street of the city of Bakersfield.

[221]

It is 56 feet wide and runs north and south. It has a paved portion 24 feet wide with a white line down its center. Between the east edge of the pavement and the curb there is a 29-foot oiled shoulder. There is a three-foot dirt shoulder west of the pavement. There is no curb on the west side pf the avenue. Thirtieth Street intersects Union Avenue at right angles from the west and becomes Pacific Street to the east. There is a boulevard stop sign on Thirtieth Street about 17 feet west of the intersection. There is also a stop sign on Pacific Street.

Arvin Richardson was the owner of an old Ford winch truck which was being driven by Cort Laswell with the owner’s consent at the time of the collision. Plaintiffs were husband and wife. Before the collision they were approaching the intersection from the south in an automobile driven by Fred A. Hershey.

Laswell testified that he approached the intersection from the west on Thirtieth Street; that the lights of the truck were burning; that he did not stop at the stop sign nor the westerly intersection line but near the west pavement line; that he looked and saw no vehicle approaching from the north; that he saw plaintiffs’ car approaching from the south about a block and a half away; that he believed he had sufficient time to make the crossing and proceeded into the intersection; that when his truck was across the east half of the pavement it was struck on the south side by plaintiffs’ car. The force of the collision was considerable. This would support the conclusion that Mr. Hershey was driving faster than the 25 miles per hour which he admitted.