Handley v. Randolph

WORKS, P. J.

Respondent is a small child who was injured in an automobile accident. She was traveling in a

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car driven by her father, when it collided with one driven by defendant. Prom the judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendant appeals.

The facts of the case are quite unusual. A caravan of automobiles—so it is called in the briefs—was in procession from Maywood to San Diego, the cars being occupied by members of several branches of a well-known fraternal organization, together with their families. The procession consisted of about 150 cars, with appropriate spaces between them. Mr. Handley was a member of the Maywood branch of the order, which headed the caravan, Handley’s ear being within a few cars of the head of the procession when it departed from Maywood. The caravan was to proceed through Long Beach, and when the Handley car was within a little less than a mile of the intersection of American Avenue and Wardlow Road, in that city, Handley had some trouble with it and was compelled to pull into the curb on American to rectify the difficulty. In this work he was aided by Officer Nelson of the Maywood police, who, together with other police, was convoying the caravan on its trip. The repairs to Handley’s car delayed his party for four or five minutes, during which time the" procession moved along American at a speed of from twenty-five to thirty miles an hour. "When Handley’s car was again in order Nelson stopped that part of the parade which had not yet passed the point at which the repairs were made, allowed Handley to pass through the gap thus made, and attempted, on his motorcycle, to lead Handley ahead to his original place in the procession. During this attempt the motorcycle and Handley’s car moved southward along American Avenue, passing the left or easterly side of the cars composing the parade, moving more rapidly than they, and along a line a little to the right of the middle of the avenue. At all times which are of interest here the Handley ear was at least from 100 to 150 feet to the rear of the motorcycle, and the two vehicles, according to the variations in the testimony of the many witnesses, proceeded, even up to the moment of the collision hereafter to be described, at a speed of from thirty-five to fifty miles the hour. During this strange race to place Handley in his original location in the line of parade, along an important artery of automobile traffic, Nelson constantly operated the siren on his motorcycle and Handley