141 Iowa 620 | Iowa | 1908
V. D. Kern was an insurance agent, living at 1334 East Walnut Street in the city of Des Moines. He was at the time of his death 32 years of age, and had a wife and. children dependent upon him. He had been troubled with rheumatism, ,but it is claimed had recovered before the accident in question. Grand Avenue in the city of Des Moines is one of the principal streets in that city, running from its western limits eastward past the State Capitol to the State Eair Grounds. Eor a part of the way on the east side of the Des Moines Kiver the defendant, an electric street railway company, occupied this street with its tracks — the tracks being double from Twelfth to Four
There was also testimony from which a jury might have found that the west-bound train was stopped at an unusual place because it had carried by some passengers who wished to alight at Fourteenth Street east, and desired to' have them get off as soon as possible. As these were jury questions, we must assume, for the purposes of this appeal, that they would have been resolved in favor of plaintiff. . We have, then this west-bound car stopping before crossing the street intersection of Thirteenth Street, and directly in front of deceased as he was pursuing his way toward the northwest corner of the street intersection. Before stopping, the bell was rung for the crossing, and considerable noise attended the act of slowing down. A jury was authorized to find that, immediately upon the stopping of the 'west-bound train in the path which deceased was pursuing, he started 'eastward to go around the latter, and that while passing along the side of the trailer, he was struck by the east-bound car which he had seen at Twelfth Street as he had started to cross Grand Avenue to take the west-bound train. This east-bound car was running at a speed of from fifteen to twenty-five miles an hour, and a jury may have found that it was running at even a greater rate than the highest here named, and that no bell or gong was sounded until just as the car reached and ran over plaintiff’s intestate.
We reach the conclusion that for the errors pointed out -the judgment must be, and it is, reversed.