Payne v. Wright

LANGDON, P. J.

This is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment against him for one thousand dollars, upon a verdict of a jury awarding that amount to plaintiff as damages for personal injuries sustained by being run over by an automobile owned and operated by defendant.

The plaintiff with her grandson, a child of ten years of age, was attempting to cross Main Street, in the city of Los Angeles, at a place in the middle of the block. There were two automobiles parked close to the curb, with sufficient space between them to permit the parking of another machine. Plaintiff stepped off the sidewalk between the two machines which were parked. She is crippled and was walking with a crutch. She looked about her carefully for approaching vehicles before stepping off of the sidewalk, and then took the additional precaution to send her grandson ahead a few feet into the street and past the stationary automobiles, to ascertain whether or not there were any vehicles approaching. While she was standing still between the two automobiles which were parked, and awaiting her grandson’s signal to advance, the automobile driven by defendant backed into the space in which she was standing and knocked her down, injuring her severely.

The record contains ample testimony from which the jury might have concluded that the defendant gave no warning signal before backing into the space where plaintiff was standing; that defendant backed into such space rapidly ; that plaintiff looked to her right and to her left before leaving the sidewalk; that she looked at the defendant’s machine and it was at a standstill; that she thereupon stepped into the street in an attempt to reach the opposite side, and that a moment later, defendant, without any warning signal and without looking in the direction of plaintiff, backed his automobile so rapidly into the space in which plaintiff was standing that she had no opportunity to escape in response to a warning shouted by her young grandson. The record contains the testimony of the traffic officer, who witnessed the accident, and of plaintiff’s grandson to the

[657]

effect that defendant did not look around nor take any precautions before backing into the parking space; that he did not stop until the traffic officer jumped upon the running-board of his automobile and told him he was crushing a woman with his car.