Jennings v. Day

THE COURT.

The plaintiff in this action sued for personal injuries sustained in an automobile collision and recovered judgment against the defendant Day alone, the court finding that the defendant Davidson had not been negligent. The defendant Day appeals from the judgment upon the ground that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a judgment against him and, also, that the judgment was the result of passion and prejudice predicated upon evidence relating to but .not determinative of his liability.

The accident happened on Imperial highway near El Segundo. The highway extended in an easterly and westerly direction, Playa del Rey road intersecting it from the north

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at a right angle. West of Playa del Rey road the highway turned to the south. This highway was just wide enough for two cars to pass and was on a descending grade from several hundred feet east of Playa del Rey road to and beyond the curve to the west. Plaintiff was traveling.from east to west approaching Playa del Rey road at a speed of eighteen to twenty miles per hour. She saw the defendant Day’s automobile coming toward her at what she estimated to be fifty miles per hour. When this car was about opposite or slightly east of Playa del Rey road and only a short distance from plaintiff’s car, it suddenly stopped. The defendant Davidson was driving an automobile which was following that driven by the defendant Day, and when the latter stopped, in order to avoid a collision with this machine Davidson drove his automobile around it but into the path of the one driven by the plaintiff, which he had not seen approaching. The impact was between the plaintiff’s car and that driven by the defendant Davidson, there being no collision between the automobile driven by the defendant Day and any other car. The negligence charged against the defendant Day is that he brought his car to a sudden stop without giving any signal.

The first point made by the appellant is that the evidence is insufficient to justify the finding that the defendant Davidson was not negligent. Appellant admits that if the court found that Davidson was guilty of negligence this would not excuse Day. He contends, however, that the trial court obviously ignored the evidence and found Day solely liable for the accident and that appellant was, therefore, not afforded a fair and impartial trial. Appellant cannot complain of the action of the trial court in finding that Davidson was not negligent. There is no right of contribution between two joint tort-feasors, and respondent is the only party aggrieved by the finding of the trial court.