51 Cal. App. 2d 653 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1942
Defendants appeal from a judgment for $20,000 entered upon the verdict of a jury in an action for damages arising out of a collision between a local, five-car Santa Fe passenger train and an automobile driven by Lawrence W. Eastman. The ' collision occurred about 8:30 p. m., Saturday, June 24, 1939, in the city of Albany, at the Solano Avenue crossing of the Santa Fe track. Eastman was the sole occupant of the automobile, and he died shortly after the accident from the injuries received. At the close of the evidence defendants moved for directed verdicts upon the following grounds: that plaintiffs failed to prove that the defendants, or either of them, were guilty of any negligence that proximately contributed to the accident; that the evidence
Solano Avenue runs in a generally east-west direction. It is the main artery through the city, and along the center the Southern Pacific Company maintains a single track thereon for its interurban trains. It is intersected by Masonic Avenue, and approximately 75 feet east of the Masonic Avenue intersection the Santa Fe main line single track runs parallel with Masonic Avenue, and crosses Solano Avenue in a northerly and southerly direction. The defendant company maintained a wigwag signal on the north curb line of Solano Avenue, about 15 feet west of its track; also a cross-arm signal on the opposite side of the street. The wigwag signal consisted of a pendulum-like disk which when set in motion oscillated back and forth, and automatically turned on a red light and started the ringing of a bell. A two-story structure, 20 by 20 feet, called the Masonic Tower, stood just west of the wigwag, about 40 feet west of the Santa Fe track, and 15 or 20 feet north of the north curb line of Solano Avenue. It was owned and maintained by the Southern Pacific. Company, wherein it kept a tower-man to give signals for the operation of trains of both railroad companies over the crossing. There was a hedge growing a few feet distant from the easterly side of the tower and parallel therewith; also a couple of small trees; and two poles stood near the hedge, all within the property line.
The decedent was a real estate salesman and lived near the scene of the accident. Shortly before it occurred he had phoned to his wife from San Pablo Avenue that they were going out for the evening with some other salesmen, and he told her he would pick her up in a few minutes in front of a drug store on Solano, about a block from their home, where he would stop for some cigarettes. He drove easterly along Solano Avenue, and as he was crossing the track his car was struck by the train which entered the crossing from the north side. The record is barren of any evidence showing that upon approaching the track the decedent slackened the rate of speed he was
The following is a résumé of the evidence relied on by defendants : The Southern Pacific tower-man, stationed in the Masonic Tower, testified that he heard the train whistle first when it was probably half a mile north of the intersection, and he cleared the signals for the passing of the train; that when the train was 700 or 800 feet away he heard it give the regular crossing whistle—two long blasts and two short; and it whistled again just before it crossed Solano Avenue; that it started to give the regular crossing whistle but “there was something peculiar about the last two whistles that drew my attention that there might be something wrong”—“when he started to whistle these two last shorts he kind of drawed one out a little bit, that’s what called my attention, so I thought something was wrong, and I glanced across the street and I saw this automobile speeding there almost to the train”; that the automobile was then 40 or 50 feet from the track, travelling toward the train at a “very high rate of speed,” estimated by the witness to be from 35 to 40 miles an hour. He further testified that when the train was 500 or 600 feet away the wigwag began to operate; that when the engine was 500 feet away the wigwag was working—the bell on the wigwag was ringing and the light was burning; that he had seen the headlight of the engine when it was 300 or 400 feet up the track; and that the train was travelling 12 or 15 miles an hour; that when it stopped the engine and the first car were just past the south curb line of Solano Avenue, and the third car was right across the street.
The fireman on the train testified that the train was travel-ling about 15 miles an hour; that the bell was ringing automatically—the engineer had turned it on at Richmond; that the first whistle was given when the train was about 300 feet north of the crossing—“two longs and two shorts”—and then it sounded as if the engineer started to blow another crossing whistle and ended with a long blast; that his attention was attracted by this whistle, and he glanced over in time to see the engineer “turn loose the whistle cord and grab the emergency brake valve”; that he then saw the headlights “coming through” the front end of the locomotive (he was on the opposite side from which the automobile was approaching), and he next saw the automobile come out on the left (his) side of the locomotive and roll over into the vacant lot. Afterwards the train was backed over the crossing and the fireman said he and the engineer both got down and examined the wigwag and it was working.
In addition to the foregoing, defendants produced two witnesses who lived near the scene of the accident, and they testified that they heard the warning given of the approach of the train. One, Don Carter, lived on the corner of Masonic and Solano, on the south side of Solano, and was in his bathroom
The witness produced by plaintiffs was William J. Tore, an employee of the National Park Service. He was driving a Plymouth coupe and was accompanied by his mother-in-law, who sat beside him holding in her lap Tore’s infant niece, a year and a half old. Tore testified that he was driving westerly on Solano Avenue, about 15 to 20 miles an hour; that when he reached a point about 100 feet from the railroad track he looked north and could see some 300 feet up the track, but did not see or hear any train; that he looked at the wigwag and it was not operating; that when he was 60 or 70 feet from the track he could see 400 or 500 feet up the track but still saw no train; that he looked at the wigwag again and it was not operating; that when he was about 50 feet from the track he saw the decedent’s car approaching in the opposite direction, about 30 feet from the track; that it was “proceeding at a leisurely rate”; that when he (the witness) was about 30 feet from the track he saw the headlight of the approaching train, which was then 60 or 70 feet up the track, and he pulled in to the curb and stopped about 12 or 15 feet from the track; that the wigwag was not going just before the train hit the crossing, but as the train came up to the crossing and just before it passed in front of him the wigwag started and he heard “a very slight bell”; that up to that time he heard no bell at all, and at no time did he hear any whistle.
It is doubtless the law that failure to comply with the regulations prescribed by section 486 of the Civil Code as to ringing the bell and blowing the whistle of a railroad train upon approaching a street crossing is prima facie evidence of negligence on the part of the railroad company (Parker v. Southern
Defendants contend, however, that with respect to Yore’s testimony the situation calls for the application of the rule that a court may reject positive testimony where its inherent improbability is such as to deny it all claims to belief (Dierks v. Newsom, 49 Cal. App. 789 [194 Pac. 518]; Zibbell v. Southern Pacific Co., 160 Cal. 237 [116 Pac. 513]); that this rule applies where the testimony bears within itself “the seeds of its own destruction, ’ ’ as where it is inherently improbable, or its destruction is wrought from without, as where the witness is in some manner impeached (Market Street Ry. Co. v. George, 116 Cal. App. 572 [3 P. (2d) 41]); and that this is such a case; that beyond doubt Yore’s testimony was proved to be inherently untrue. The main point defendants make in this behalf is that the uncontradicted evidence produced by them as to the construction and mechanical operation of the wigwag proves conclusively that it was mechanically impossible for the wigwag to start operating ás claimed by Yore, just as the train reached the crossing. The evidence consisted of the testimony given by C. M. Morris, the signal maintainer for the Santa Fe
Another point made by defendants is that if as Yore claimed the wigwag did not start to operate until the engine crossed into the intersection, he could not have seen the wigwag start at all because at that very moment it was cut from his view by the passing train. They make the additional point that accord-, ing to Yore’s testimony as to the speed of the train and of his automobile, and the distances travelled by each, the train must have travelled over 400 feet in less than a second, which they claim was impossible. Finally, defendants refer to the apparent unusual interest Yore took in the case, by going out to the scene of the accident on two different nights following the coroner’s inquest. The first night he took certain measurements by pacing the distances; and the second night he spent an hour counting the automobiles passing over the crossing.
We are of the opinion that the facts and circumstances relied upon by defendants are not of such a character as would warrant the rejection of Yore’s testimony under the rule defen
Nor can we uphold defendants’ second major contention that the evidence as a matter of law establishes contributory negligence on the part of the decedent. It is only where but one conclusion can reasonably be drawn from the evidence that the question of contributory negligence becomes one of law for the court to determine. Even in the absence of conflict in the evidence, contributory negligence is a mixed question' of law and fact which should be left to the jury, if different conclusions upon the matter may rationally be reached from the evidence adduced. (Robbins v. Southern Pacific Co., 102 Cal. App. 744 [283 Pac. 850].) In dealing with the question of contributory negligence in cases of this kind, the court in Will v. Southern Pacific Co., 18 Cal. (2d) 468 [116 P. (2d) 44], said in part: "The tracks of a steam railroad are a sign of danger, and one intending to cross them must avail himself of every opportunity to look and listen. The degree of care to be exercised is dependent upon the circumstances in the particular case. If there are obstructions to the view, one is required to take a greater amount of care. (Herbert v. Southern Pac. Co., 121 Cal. 227 [53 Pac. 651].) However, the same quantum of care is not required of a traveler approaching a rail
The present case is admittedly a guarded crossing case, and -testimony was placed before the jury that as the train neared the crossing the engine -crew gave no warning of its approach and the wigwag was not operating. Therefore, under the circumstances of' the case and the law as declared in the deei
Defendants state that if the decedent had exercised ordinary care he would have seen the headlight of the approaching train; but under the rule of the authorities cited, this was one of the questions of fact to be considered and determined by the jury. To this may be added the application of the principle that where death has resulted from the accident and the lips of the injured party are thus sealed, it will be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the deceased exercised ordinary care for his own safety. (Robbins v. Southern Pacific Co., supra, citing Larrabee v. Western Pac. R. R. Co., 173 Cal. 743 [161 Pac. 750].) This presumption is evidence in the case, and is to be so considered, unless it is overcome by satisfactory evidence, that is, unless the evidence of the party in whose favor the presumption is sought to be invoked is in conflict therewith (Smellie v. Southern Pacific Co., 212 Cal. 540 [299 Pac. 529]); where it is not so controverted, it merely raises a conflict with the opposing evidence, and the jury is warranted in finding in accordance with the presumption (Westberg v. Willde, 14 Cal. (2d) 360 [94 P. (2d) 590], citing numerous cases; Smellie v. Southern Pacific Co., supra).
Since, therefore, the evidence adduced at the trial did not establish as a matter of law that the decedent was guilty of contributory negligence, and was legally sufficient to establish negligence on the part of defendants, the motions for directed verdicts were properly denied.
The first four instructions assigned as erroneous are obviously based on the legal doctrine declared in the cases above cited, especially the Robbins, Gregg, Ogburn and Will eases, to the effect that a person crossing a railroad track guarded by safety devices is not required to exercise the same quantum of
However, defendants attack the correctness of this latter instruction upon the ground that the qualifying words of the last sentence thereof “make a highly prejudicial instruction out of what, without them, would have been a good instruction.” In this regard defendants state that the court first lays down the correct standard of conduct and then in the last sentence “strikes down this standard of conduct” and thus confused the jury. It is evident, however, that the language used in said last sentence cannot be deemed prejudicial because it is founded upon and substantially conforms to the legal doctrines stated in Robbins v. Southern Pacific Co., supra; Ogburn v. Atchison, etc. Ry. Co., supra; Hoffman v. Southern Pacific Co., 101 Cal. App. 218 [281 Pac. 681]; also Cooper v. Southern Pacific Co., 43 Cal. App. (2d) 693
The following is the remaining instruction to which defendants object: “At the outset of this trial each party is entitled to the presumptions of law that every person takes ordinary care of his own concerns and that he obeys the law. These presumptions are a form of prima facie evidence, and will support findings in accordance therewith in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Where there is other evidence that conflicts with such a presumption, it is the jury’s duty to weigh that evidence against the presumption, and any evidence that may support the presumption, to determine which, if either, predominates. Such deliberations, of course, shall be related to, and in accordance with my instructions on the burden of proof.” The instruction finds full support in the Smellie, Lahey and Westberg cases, to which reference has already been made. We are unable to agree with defendants ’ contention that where there are eye-witnesses to the accident the presumption is not applicable. (See Ellison v. Lang Transportation Co., 12 Cal. (2d) 355 [84 P. (2d) 510] ; Westberg v. Willde, supra; Scott v. Sheedy, 39 Cal. App. (2d) 96 [102 P. (2d) 575], and other cases cited in plaintiffs’ brief.)
The judgment is affirmed.
Peters, P. J., and Ward, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied June 3, 1942, and appellants’ petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied July 2,1942. Gibson, C. J., Edmonds, J., and Traynor, J., voted for a hearing.