Wickesser v. Burns

SHOEMAKER, J.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff Eleanor Wiekesser from a judgment rendered in her action for personal injuries in favor of the defendants Carl Burns and Freedom Union School District.

The facts are substantially without conflict. Defendant Burns was operating a pickup truck of his employer, the defendant school district, and was making a left-hand turn into Roache Road from Highway 1 in Watsonville, California, when a collision took place with a car driven by plaintiff, approaching the intersection on Highway 1 from the opposite direction. Burns did not see plaintiff’s car until it collided with his pickup truck. The speed limit on Highway 1 is 65 miles per hour, and the topography in the area is such that a person seated in a car at the intersection involved could see a vehicle coming from the direction of plaintiff’s car approximately 450 feet away, which distance would permit a driver to safely make a left-hand turn even though the approaching vehicle was going 65 miles per hour. The highway in the direction plaintiff was proceeding sloped toward the intersection, a condition of which plaintiff was unaware. Plaintiff’s view was unobstructed as she approached the intersection. She saw the pickup and realized that the driver was intending to make a left-hand turn, although she observed no signal. She further realized that the pickup was waiting for a red car that had just passed her to proceed through the intersection. When plaintiff was three or four lengths from the intersection, Burns commenced his turn. Plaintiff immediately slammed on her brakes and intentionally turned right, hoping to avoid a collision, but instead struck the pickup on

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the right side with the front of her ear. She left skid marks of 28 feet. The ears came to rest in contact on the north shoulder of the highway. Immediately prior to the accident, plaintiff observed that there were no cars other than hers approaching the intersection from either direction.

Plaintiff-appellant first contends that the judgment must be reversed because the evidence established as a matter of law that respondent Burns was negligent and that appellant was guilty of no contributory negligence. We do not agree. From the verdict of the jury and the evidence we have recounted, we assume that respondent Burns was found to be negligent. However, we cannot say that there was no evidence in support of a finding that appellant was also negligent.