Ruperto v. Thomas

MR. JUSTICE THOMPSON (R. L.) Delivered the Opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a judgment for damages resulting from an automobile collision at the intersection of streets.

Georgia and Amador Streets in the city of Vallejo intersect at a right angle. The plaintiff was driving a Chrysler roadster easterly on Georgia Street along a course about ten feet from the south curbing. The top of his machine was open at either side. It was daylight. There was apparently no traffic in view. The plaintiff had crossed a bridge which was located about a block west of the intersection of these streets. He was traveling at a speed of about twenty-five miles an -hour. When he reached a point seventy-five feet from the nearest line of Amador Street, he slackened his speed to about ten miles an hour and extended his left arm horizontally for the purpose of indicating his intention to make a U-turn at the intersection. This left-arm signal was maintained until he reached the inter

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section. He also directed his course to within a foot or two of the south curbing -to make room for the turn. When he reached a point twenty-five feet from the nearest line of Amador Street he looked into his rear-view mirror and glanced to his left. He testified that his mirror gave him a clear view of the entire street back to the bridge, a distance of three hundred or four hundred feet, and that there was no vehicle in sight. Upon reaching the intersection he proceeded to turn to his left glancing toward the left as he drove. He testified in this regard: “Q. . . . Did yon not have a vision here of some portion to your left hand? A. I had a vision to my left, yes sir. Q. . . . You saw the condition of traffic or absence of traffic here, as you swung around? A. It was clear of traffic; that is why I made the turn. Q. Do I understand that you mean to say that you did look here to your left and saw it clear? A. I looked, and just as I looked up to my left I was struck. Q. But, as you circled around here, you saw over here to your left to some extent did you? A. Yes sir.” Just as the front of the plaintiff’s car passed the intersection button it was struck midway upon the left side by the defendant’s machine and dragged a distance of about fifty feet. The plaintiff testified in this regard: “Q. Was any of your car past the center of the button at the time of the impact? A. The front of my car was past the center of the street. . . . Q. And it dragged your car then from where it struck about fifty feet? A. Yes sir.”