Bedell v. Duniven

WOOD, J.

Plaintiffs, husband and wife, brought this action for damages for personal injuries sustained by the wife, a pedestrian, as the result of an accident allegedly caused by the negligence of defendant in operating his automobile. Trial was by jury. The verdict was in favor of defendant, and judgment was entered thereon. Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment.

Plaintiffs contend that the evidence does not support the verdict, and the trial court erred in denying plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial.

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The accident occurred April 15, 1945, about 8 :30 p. m., on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, west of and near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Lucile Street. Sunset Boulevard extends east and west, Lucile Street extends north and south, and both streets are paved. Sunset Boulevard is 76 feet wide, and is divided into four traffic lanes—two for eastbound traffic and two for westbound traffic which are separated by a double white line in the center of the boulevard. Streetcar tracks are in the middle of Sunset Boulevard—one within the inside lane for eastbound traffic and one within the inside lane for westbound traffic. Apparently, there are no automatic signals or boulevard stop signs at this intersection for east-west traffic.

Defendant was proceeding at the rate of 20 to 25 miles an hour in an easterly direction on Sunset Boulevard. He was in the inside lane for eastbound traffic and about two feet south of the double white line. It was dark, and the headlights of his automobile were lighted. The pavement was dry, and the brakes on defendant’s automobile were in good condition.

Plaintiff, Mrs. Bedell, will be referred to as the plaintiff. Plaintiff and her 8-year-old son, whom she was holding by the hand, were proceeding across Sunset Boulevard in a southerly direction in the unmarked pedestrian crosswalk on the west side of the intersection. After they had crossed the double white line in the center of Sunset Boulevard, plaintiff was struck by the front left portion of defendant’s automobile, and she sustained personal injuries.

Defendant testified that automobiles with their lights on were approaching in both lanes for westbound traffic; that he was “blinded” and could not see plaintiff until he “was upon her”; that there were eastbound automobiles in front of him and in the traffic lane to his right; that he followed the automobiles ahead of him, kept in his lane of traffic at all times and traveled at the same speed as the automobiles ahead of him; that he first saw plaintiff just before he struck her, when he was approximately 60 feet west of the prolongation of the westerly curb line of the intersection, when a passenger in his (defendant’s) automobile said, “hit the brakes”; that at that time plaintiff was 8 to 10 feet north of the center of the street, approximately 15 feet west of the prolongation of the westerly curb line of the intersection, and she and her son were running, the son running ahead of plaintiff; that when defendant heard his passenger say, “hit the brakes,” he applied his