194 S.W.2d 513 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1946
Affirming.
The appeal is from a judgment in favor of the appellee, Phillipp J. Kunkle, plaintiff below, against W.E. Davis, in the amount of $529.05 on a directed verdict. Mr. Kunkle was awarded damages for his automobile growing out of a collision between his car and a car belonging to Mr. Davis and being driven by Miss Lucille Byron, now Mrs. Davis. The accident occurred on Highway 60 as Mr. Kunkle was proceeding toward Mt. Sterling and as Mr. Davis's car was proceeding toward Winchester. The collision took place when Miss Byron drove her car from the right-hand side of the road to the left in the path of Mr. Kunkle's car. She was going to a filling station on that side of the road. There were three or four cars in front of Miss Byron proceeding in the same direction. Mr. Kunkle rounded a curve some 200 or 300 feet from the place of the accident and *259 saw the line of cars on his left. He and a passenger in his car said he was proceeding at between 35 and 40 miles an hour. He said Miss Byron drove her car into the path of his car when he was some 80 feet from her, and that he immediately applied his brakes, sounded his horn and pulled his car over on the shoulder of the highway. His car made skid marks for approximately 84 feet. Both Miss Byron and Mr. Davis said they did not see Mr. Kunkle's car until just before the collision, and there was no testimony showing that Miss Byron gave any of the statutory signals before veering her car to the left from the right-hand side of the road.
The appellant's contention is that the case was one for the jury, because Mr. Kunkle was exceeding the Federal O. D. T. speed limit of 35 miles per hour, and because the length of the skid marks would indicate he was traveling at even a higher speed than 35 to 40 miles an hour. On the other hand, the appellee contends that Miss Byron's negligence in turning her car into the left lane of the highway and into the path of his car without giving any signal, and without maintaining a lookout (since she said she did not see Mr. Kunkle's car until immediately before the collision) was the sole cause of the accident. He contends also that, even if it be conceded he was traveling at an excessive rate of speed, that fact could not have contributed to the accident because it would have occurred in any event.
We believe the court properly instructed the jury to find for Mr. Kunkle because we can not escape the conclusion that the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence is that the proximate cause of the accident was the negligence of Miss Byron. Her own evidence shows she was not maintaining the lookout duty required by KRS
As pointed out in Rabold v. Gonyer,
As we have indicated, it is our view that Miss Byron, the driver of Mr. Davis's car, was guilty of negligence per se, and, therefore, the trial court properly directed a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Mr. Kunkle.
Judgment affirmed. *261