Bertiz v. City of Los Angeles

LANGDON, P. J.

This is an appeal by the defendants from a judgment for one thousand dollars against them in an action for damages alleged to have been caused by the negligence of defendant Boston in operating an automobile as the agent of the defendant, City of Los Angeles. The plaintiff brought the action as the father of Marie Bertiz, a minor, who was killed as the result of a collision between the automobile owned and operated by defendants and an automobile in which she was riding.

■ At the trial of the case three other cases growing out of the same accident were consolidated with it and by stipulation of the parties and order of court, the transcript on appeal in this cause constitutes the transcript in the other three cases and the several appeals are to be considered upon the briefs herein.

The parties hereto stipulated that the following facts should be deemed proven: That prior to the year 1913 the City of Los Angeles maintained a mechanical division of the purchasing department, and it was the duty of said mechanical division to repair all automobiles owned by the City; that in 1918 the mechanical division of the purchasing department was transferred to the mechanical division of the board of public works, and that from that time on it was the duty of the mechanical division of the board of public works to repair all automobiles owned by the City of .Los Angeles except automobiles belonging to and operated by the bureau of power and light, and the water department of said City; that the only departments of the city government of the City of Los Angeles which have automobiles belonging to the said departments repaired by said mechanical division of the board of public works are the following, to wit: Engineering department, park department, playground department, library department, fire department, police department, building department, and the city council.

[794]

Defendant W. C. Boston was, on the second day of July, 1920, employed as a mechanic at a garage owned by the City of Los Angeles, located at Pasadena Avenue and Avenue 19 in said City. Among the duties of said W. C. Boston was the testing and repairing of carburetors and ears upon the public highways of said City. The City owned a Cadillac automobile which was driven by the defendant W. C. Boston on El Monte road on July 2, 1920, and on said date Boston, in performance of his duties as a garage mechanic, was testing out the operation of the carburetor on said Cadillac automobile by driving the automobile in an easterly direction along El Monte road within the corporate limits of said City. In driving the automobile at said time and place Boston exceeded a speed of thirty miles an hour. The plaintiff was driving an automobile in a westerly direction on El Monte road. A collision occurred between the two automobiles and as a result thereof both automobiles were damaged, Marie Bertiz, minor daughter of plaintiff, was killed, and plaintiff and his two other children were injured.