Heslop v. Kinyoun

SHINN, Acting P. J. At about 2 o’clock in the morning two automobiles were driven into a head-on collision in the middle of Beverly Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles. One of them, a Cadillac convertible coupé, traveling east, was driven by Robert Gerhart, who had as a passenger Emilie Heslop. The other, a Packard sedan, was being driven west by Dr. Kinyoun, who was accompanied by his wife. The four occupants of the cars were injured, Miss Heslop and Dr. Kinyoun seriously. Miss Heslop sued Dr. and Mrs. Kinyoun and they, in turn, sued Gerhart for damages. In a consolidated trial of the two actions by the court, the Kinyouns recovered judgment against Gerhart upon a finding that he was solely responsible for the accident, and Miss Heslop was denied a recovery from the Kinyouns as a result of the same finding. From separate judgments Miss Heslop and Gerhart prosecute separate appeals, which are presented upon a single record and will be considered together. The principal contention on both appeals is that the evidence failed to support the finding that Dr. Kinyoun was free from negligence.

The position of the ears with relation to each other and to the street as they came together pretty well demonstrates the manner in which they were being driven immediately before the collision. Beverly Boulevard, at the scene of the accident, is 56 feet wide between curbs. It is divided into four marked traffic lanes. Those adjoining the double middle stripes are 10 feet 6 inches wide, the outer ones 17 feet 6 inches wide. Assuming that the boulevard extends directly east and west, Dr. Kinyoun’s ear came to rest with its left front wheel on the middle stripes and its left rear wheel some 21 inches to the left or south of the middle stripes. The right rear wheel had made a skid mark 36 feet long and on a line parallel with the middle lines. It necessarily follows from these facts that if the ear was in the same position at the time it was struck (and the skid marks show this to have been the case) it was being turned rather sharply to the right at the time of the impact but traveled no appreciable distance in the process of turning, since the right rear wheel was still in [290]direct line with the skid mark, which showed no deviation from a straight course. The Cadillac driven by Gerhart was entirely on its left or the north side of the middle stripes and was headed southeasterly at an angle approximately 45 degrees. The right front corners of the two cars came together in this position. The left front halves of the two cars were undamaged, although both cars were badly smashed at the point of impact. The right front of the Cadillac was some 3 or 4 feet north of the middle lines, the right rear some 7 or 8 feet farther to the north. These facts appear from photographs in evidence, from which it would further appear that the two ears did not move after they came together.