Jackson v. the Lactein Co.

PRESTON, J.

The judgments rendered in the above-entitled causes are and each of them is hereby affirmed.

The several plaintiffs above named commenced their respective actions against the defendants, The Lactein Company, a corporation, and David L. Robinson, to recover damages for alleged injuries resulting from the collision of a Ford sedan, driven by plaintiff Jackson, in which plain

[521]

tiffs' Mary Haver, Anna Overman, and another lady, were riding, with a milk truck which was being operated by defendant Robinson for the purpose of conveying milk under his contract with defendant, The Lactein Company, a corporation. Save for the different parties plaintiff and the respective amounts of damage alleged to have been suffered by each of them, the three causes of action are identical and they were, therefore, by order of court, properly consolidated and tried together on the same evidence. The jury returned verdicts awarding plaintiff Mary Haver $10,000, no award being made in favor of her husband plaintiff George F. Haver, Sr., who was seeking to recover for the loss of her services, etc.; awarding plaintiff Anna Overman $2,500, and awarding plaintiff John F. Jackson $800. Judgment was duly entered thereon. Motion for a new trial in each case was denied. Defendants now appeal from the order denying their motions for new trials and from the judgment entered on said three verdicts.

As appellants’ main specification of error relates to the alleged insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdicts and judgment and as we find, upon examination of the record, abundant, ample, competent evidence in support thereof, we shall endeavor to limit our discussion to a bare statement of the essential facts.

At the time in question, September 17, 1926, about 8:40 A. M., the weather being dry and clear, plaintiff Jackson, with plaintiffs Mary Haver, Anna Overman and a Mrs. Richards, was driving in a Ford sedan in a southerly direction on the Crows Landing road about twelve miles south of Modesto, California. Defendant Robinson, a young man then nineteen and a half years of age, driving a White truck, was at the same time proceeding northward on said highway. The road consisted of practically a straight strip of concrete pavement approximately twelve feet wide, with sand and dirt, wet in places from rice irrigation, about two inches below the surface of the pavement, extending along both sides. The truck had double wheels in the rear, protruding some six or seven inches beyond the line of the front wheels. Its width through the rear wheels was seven feet. The Ford was five and one-half feet wide. It will, therefore, be seen that for these vehicles to pass on a twelve-