Holmes v. California Crushed Fruit Co.

[780]

HOUSER, J.

In an action for damages arising out of personal injuries sustained by plaintiff by reason of his being struck by an automobile which was being operated by the defendant, plaintiff was awarded a judgment against the defendant for the sum of $3,947.30, divided as follows: For physical injuries, the sum of $3,000; for doctors’ bill, $212.30; for loss of time, $735.

Appellant’s first assignment of error is that the trial court erred in finding “that since said accident he (plaintiff) has been unable to engage in said or any work or to earn said or any sum, to his damage in that behalf in the sum of $735.00.’’

The evidence showed that before the accident, when plaintiff worked (which was about two-thirds of his time), he earned between $5 and $7.50 per day, or at the rate of from $130 to $195 per month. The damages allowed by the court on the item of which complaint is made was at the rate of $100 per month. It is evident that by reason of unemployment one might earn no money during the space of a month, or a year, or any other period of time, and yet one’s capacity for work and ability to earn money during such period might be entirely unimpaired. The rule is that, although one may not work every day, nor all the time, damages may be estimated upon one’s ability to earn money, rather than upon what one is either earning or has actually theretofore earned.

(Storrs

v.

Los Angeles Traction Co.,

134 Cal. 91 [66 Pac. 72];

Evarts

v.

Santa Barbara etc. Ry. Co.,

3 Cal. App. 712 [86 Pac. 830];

Washington

v.

Pacific Electric Ry. Co.,

14 Cal. App. 685 [112 Pac. 904];

Meek