Pruitt v. Krovitz

KNIGHT, J.

An automobile driven by Harry Krovitz collided with one driven by Ed Hansen, as a result of which the drivers of both cars were injured, and Joseph Pruitt, who was riding with Hansen, suffered a basal skull fracture and other injuries from the effects of which he died two days later. Alleging that the accident was proximately caused by the negligent operation of the Krovitz car, Pruitt’s widow brought an action against him to recover damages on account of the death of her husband, and Hansen sued separately to collect damages for the personal injuries he sustained. The actions were consolidated for trial, and a jury returned verdicts in favor of the plaintiff in each action. Krovitz appealed from the judgments entered on said verdicts, and the appeals are presented in one record.

Appellant makes no claim that the evidence is insufficient to establish negligence on his part, but contends that Hansen was guilty of negligence as a matter of law, and that therefore the trial court committed error in denying appellant’s motions for nonsuit and a new trial. There is no merit in the contention. The record discloses a typical fact case, the evidence being conflicting on several essential factors, and the question of proximate cause being one for the determination of the jury.

The accident happened in the city of San Mateo on the evening of March 22, 1941, between dusk and dark, at the intersection of Grant and Seventh Streets, which cross each other at right angles. The parties stipulated that it was an “obstructed intersection,” within the meaning of the Vehicle Code definition thereof, and that consequently 15 miles an hour was the speed limit across the intersection. Hansen was driving a two-door Ford coach northerly along Grant Street, and appellant was driving a Buiek sedan westerly along Seventh Street. Pruitt was riding on the front seat with Hansen, and Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Pruitt occupied the rear seat. They had just driven from the Hansen home, a few blocks away, to a nearby store to purchase some groceries, and were on their way back to the Hansen home when the accident occurred. Appellant was a resident of Massachusetts; at the time of trial he was in Rhode Island, and his testimony was

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produced by way of deposition. On the evening of the accident he was accompanied by a friend named Ernest Faehadio. They had been at the Bay Meadows Race Track and were on their way to the Owl Cafe in San Mateo. The Hansen car entered the intersection first; its lights were on, and it had reached a point beyond the center of the intersection when it was struck on the right side by appellant’s ear and hurled a considerable distance beyond the point of impact. The weather was clear, the streets were dry,.and the evidence introduced in behalf of respondents is amply sufficient to establish that appellant entered and attempted to cross the intersection at a speed of forty or morfe miles an hour, and that such was the proximate cause of collision.