Ford v. CHESLEY TRANSPORTATION CO. INC.

SHINN, P. J.

Plaintiff, Mary C. Ford, appeals from a judgment entered pursuant to a verdict in favor of defendants in an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by her in a collision between a car driven by George Sargent in which she was riding as a guest and .a truck and trailer owned by defendant Chesley Transportation Company, driven by its employee Porter.

The accident occurred at about 9:30 p. m., on Cherry Avenue, an arterial highway. Cherry Avenue, which is 52 feet in width from one edge of the pavement to the other, runs in a northerly and southerly direction. The office of Chesley, called defendant, was situated in a building on the southeast corner of Cherry Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street. Immediately to the south of the building was a lot used by

[550]

the defendant for storing its trucking equipment. Directly opposite on the west side of Cherry Avenue was a vacant lot. There was evidence that the drivers of defendant’s trucks drove their equipment off the highway into this vacant lot prior to hacking across Cherry Avenue into the parking lot owned by defendant.

On the night in question, defendant Porter was driving defendant’s truck and flat-topped trailer with an overall length of 60 feet. There was evidence that the truck and trailer were equipped with headlights which were lighted; three clearance lights on each side of the trailer; two clearance lights in front of the driver’s cab; a fixed lamp facing to the rear mounted on a rod in the rear of the driver’s cab; and two taillights on the rear of the trailer. With the exception of the headlights and the taillights, the evidence was conflicting with respect to whether they were lighted at the time in question. The truck was equipped with a horn which was not sounded prior to the accident. The truck and trailer were equipped with flares which were not used. There was no street illumination of any kind at the point of accident.

Defendant Porter who had been driving north on Cherry Avenue, drove the truck and trailer approximately

90

feet into the west side vacant lot preparatory to backing it across the street into the east side parking lot. He testified that he then got out, walked to the edge of Cherry Avenue, looked in both directions and that he believed he saw one car approaching from the north and two cars approaching from the south. He then returned to the cab of the truck, having been absent about two minutes, and proceeded to back it toward Cherry Avenue. When he reached the edge of Cherry Avenue, his vision was limited to only a few feet to the north, and he thought he saw two cars approaching from the south, approximately 200 yards away. After hesitating for from 2 to 4 seconds, he proceeded to back the vehicle across Cherry Avenue and when the rear of the equipment reached the center line he again stopped for approximately 5 to 6 seconds, having taken from 10 to 12 seconds to reach that point. He noticed two vehicles approaching from the south, the drivers of which motioned to him to proceed, and he again backed the equipment across the street. Other approaching cars also stopped. As the rear end of the trailer reached the easterly edge of Cherry Avenue, defendant Porter for the first time saw the lights of the car driven by Sargent which was then about 10 to 30 feet to the south traveling at from 30 to 35 miles an