McGuire v. San Diego Transit System

GRIFFIN, J.

Plaintiffs and respondents, Omer W. McGuire (hereinafter referred to as plaintiff), and his wife, brought this action against defendant and appellant San Diego Transit System, a corporation, and the driver of a school bus, for damages as a result of a collision of plaintiff’s automobile with defendant’s 36-foot long bus at an intersection of Linda Vista Road (a city street in the area of Kearny Mesa) and U. S. Highway 395 (a through divided arterial highway), on June 10, 1953. Defendants denied negligence and alleged contributory negligence of plaintiff. A trial without a jury resulted in a judgment for plaintiffs for $10,535.52.

At the point where the freeway (which runs in a general north-south direction) is intersected by Linda Vista Road, it is no longer a freeway, but is a boulevard for through traffic. Stop signs were posted along Linda Vista Road for traffic entering the freeway from the southwest. Linda Vista Road approaches the intersection at an angle and at a point where various traffic islands control the movement of traffic. The intersection is broad. The opposing traffic lanes of the highway are each 24 feet wide, consisting of two lanes separated by a 30-foot center island strip. Drivers who approach the intersection on Linda Vista Road and wish to cross the highway, must cross both north and southbound lanes of traffic and then leave easterly by way of Aero Drive.

Plaintiff, a stranger to the intersection, was driving his Ford car north on the easterly lane of the freeway. The bus driver approached the freeway on Linda Vista Road from the west, stopped at the boulevard stop sign, and then proceeded to cross the southbound traffic lane and, as it traveled into the 30-foot island strip and came to a stop or a “rolling stop” at the west edge of the northbound traffic lane, it then moved out into that lane to cross the' highway into Aero Drive.

It is the testimony of plaintiff that just after he came over the crest of the hill he noticed the bus about 500 feet from him, stopped at the stop sign; that it continued into the center island and appeared to stop, when plaintiff was about 100 feet from the intersection; that he was traveling about 45 miles per hour at the time (the speed limit was 55 miles per

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hour on the freeway); that the bus driver “zoomed” out to cross the freeway and that there was nothing he could then do because the bus blocked both northbound traffic lanes at the time; that he applied his brakes and swerved to his right to avoid the collision and sideswiped the bus with his car. It struck it near its front portion and ended up in Aero Drive. Plaintiff testified he saw no other vehicles or trucks in the northbound lane at the time but said there was southbound traffic approaching from the north so he could not travel in that direction to avoid the accident.