Rodriguez v. Savage Transportation Co.

PETERS, P. J.

The plaintiffs filed two actions against the Savage Transportation Company and its truck driver Phillips, and the Coast Line Truck Service, Inc. and its truck driver Seaton, for damages for personal injuries, property damage and for the death of a minor child growing out of an accident alleged to have been caused by the negligence of defendants. The actions were consolidated for trial and tried before the court without a jury. The trial court found that the drivers of both trucks were negligent, that their negligence was concurrent, and that such concurrent negligence proximately caused the accident, and entered its judgments accordingly. Prom these judgments both sets of defendants appeal, each claiming that the accident was proximately caused by the negligence of the other, and that the evidence shows, as a matter of law, that it was not negligent. On these appeals no contention is or could be made that the plaintiffs were guilty of contributory negligence. No charge is made that the judgments are excessive. There is no merit in either appeal.

The accident occurred on June 5, 1945, at about 7 :30 a. m. about three miles south of Salinas on Highway 101, one of the main north-south highways. At the scene of the collision the highway is straight, is paved, has two lanes and runs north

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and south. It is about 20 feet wide and has the usual white line down the center. It has a 6-foot shoulder on the east side, and a 14-foot 8-inch shoulder on the west. On the morning of the accident the weather was clear and the highway was dry.

The Rodriguez family was proceeding south on this highway, on their own side of the white line, at about a speed of 25 miles per hour in a Chevrolet sedan. The two trucks involved were proceeding north, one behind the other, when the truck of the Savage Transportation Company driven by Phillips admittedly cut across from the east to the west side of the highway and ran into the automobile in which the plaintiffs were riding. The collision occurred on the western edge of the highway. As a result of the accident one of the children, Marguerita by name, was killed, both parents suffered serious injuries, two of the other children were hurt, and the Chevrolet sedan was demolished.

Just prior to the accident there were five large trucks proceeding northerly toward Salinas, each on its own or east side of the highway. The first two trucks belonged to the Baker Company. That company is not a party to these actions. The third truck belonged to the defendant Coast Line Truck Service, Inc., and was being driven by defendant Seaton. The fourth truck was owned by the Savage Transportation Company and was being driven by the defendant Phillips. The fifth truck also belonged to the Savage Transportation Company and was being driven by one Collier. The two trucks here involved, the trucks being driven by Seaton and Phillips, were large equipment and were heavily loaded. Seaton was driving a Kenworth tractor , and semi-trailer with a gross weight of about 66,000 pounds, while Phillips was driving a Western Diesel truck and semi-trailer with a gross weight of about 55,000 pounds. Seaton’s truck was equipped with a mechanical arm signal.