Greene v. M. & S. Lumber Co.

VAN DYKE, J.

On April 24, 1949, about 9 o’clock p. m. plaintiff-respondent Greene was driving a light pickup truck south on the Dixon cutoff highway near the intersection of that road with State Highway No. 12 which runs westerly from Rio Vista in Solano County and is a through highway. Near the intersection a stop sign guarded the through road and respondent stopped at the point where this sign stood. He testified as follows: He looked left and right along highway 12 and saw no vehicle approaching; his view to the left was limited to approximately 300 feet, at which point approaching vehicles would become visible as they topped a rise

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and entered a downgrade to the intersection; he shifted into low gear and proceeded from the stop sign into the intersection, intending to turn left and proceed towards Rio Vista; as he entered upon the traveled portion of Highway 12 he saw the truck and trailer of defendant-appellant M. & S. Lumber Company, driven by defendant-appellant Stanley Walker; the truck and trailer were coming down the incline approximately 300 feet away; he traveled an additional 20 or 30 feet where his rig was struck, resulting in property damage, for which he sued. The lumber company cross-complained for damages to its equipment. The trial court awarded respondent a judgment for $1,000, finding the driver of the truck and trailer to have negligently operated the same, and finding against the allegations of the cross-complaint and answer charging respondent with negligence and contributory negligence. There was testimony that appellants’ equipment, weighing 34,000 pounds and equipped with hydraulic brakes on six axles, left skid marks 268 feet in length up to the point of impact and 180 feet in length from that point to where the truck and trailer came to rest. A short distance ahead of the stop sign, at which respondent stopped, there was painted on the Dixon cutoff road on which he traveled a broad white line and the word “Stop.” The record does not definitely disclose the distance between the stop sign and the white line or between the white line and the traveled portion of Highway 12, but the fair indication from the record, including the photographs admitted in evidence, is that these distances were not great. Appellant Walker testified he was driving his equipment at about 50 miles per hour when he approached the intersection with the Dixon cutoff road, then reduced to 45 miles per hour. When 200 feet from the intersection, and observing that respondent was entering the intersection, he applied all of his brakes at maximum. His equipment was 59 feet in length.