Kidroski v. Anderson

WHITE, J.

Plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages from defendants for personal injuries sustained as the result of an automobile accident. At the beginning of the trial it was announced that plaintiffs Edward J. Kidroski and Louise Kidroski had changed their names to Edward J. Ross and Louise Ross, and the pleadings were amended accordingly; also that the claim for damages in behalf of Edward J. Ross was waived. As to all defendants sued under fictitious names the complaint was dismissed. The remaining defendant, Paul S. Anderson, by his answer denied negligence upon his part and asserted that plaintiffs were guilty of contributory negligence which proximately caused their injuries. Following a trial before the court sitting without a jury, judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiffs. From such judgment this appeal is prosecuted.

Briefly, the facts are that about 8 o’clock on the evening of July 15, 1935, plaintiffs Louise Ross and Mildred Kidroski were walking north on the west sidewalk of Broadway toward the intersection of Broadway and Fifty-first Street in the city of Los Angeles. When they reached the southwest corner of the intersection they started to cross Broadway, and as

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they proceeded across such thoroughfare they were struck by an automobile traveling south.

Appellant attacks the judgment of the trial court upon the single ground that it is unsupported by the evidence. The evidence being in conflict, we shall here set forth an epitome of the testimony which we conclude was of sufficient substantiality to justify the trial court in the conclusions arrived at. We find in the record testimony that when plaintiffs reached the intersection of Fifty-first and Broadway they stopped and waited for the traffic signal to authorize the movement of east and west traffic. When they first arrived at the corner the traffic signal was against them. They watched the northeast corner signal, and when it turned green they started to cross Broadway. They looked “both ways” as they stepped off the curb. The automobile which struck them was in the middle of the car tracks which bisect Broadway. There is in the record testimony that plaintiffs were struck by an automobile operated by defendant Paul S. Anderson ; that such automobile was driven south against and through the traffic signals, which indicated “stop” for southbound traffic, and that the speed at which the automobile was traveling as it went through the intersection was between thirty and thirty-five miles per hour. It is true that there was evidence in conflict with the foregoing, but to the trial court exclusively belongs to the right to evaluate evidence, gauge its weight, and determine the credibility of witnesses.