127 Wash. 622 | Wash. | 1923
A three-year-old son of W. H. Lee, the plaintiff, was killed on a street in Seattle by an automobile truck operated by a driver in the employment of the defendant in the delivery of milk. The pleadings consisted of the complaint and an answer containing general denials. No affirmative defense was alleged. Prom a judgment in favor of the plaintiff upon the verdict of the jury, the defendant has appealed.
By appropriate motions while the jury was on hand, by a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and one for a new trial, the appellant has questioned the sufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict. Section 62 of the traffic ordinance of the city, in evidence, provided: “Before backing, warning shall be given by a short blast followed by a long blast of the signal device, and while backing unceasing vigilance must be exercised so as not to injure those behind.”
All other assignments of error presented by the appellant relate to instructions given or refused. One that was given we notice in particular because of the insistence of counsel for the appellant that it was erroneous. It was as follows:
‘ ‘ That a child in the public street is not a trespasser. His right there is as sacred as his adult neighbor or the owner of the automobile. True, he is charged with the duty of exercising such care for his safety as a child of his years, experience and capacity may fairly be presumed to possess, but the driver of a vehicle of any kind is no less bound to anticipate the presence of children upon the public highway, and to exercise reasonable diligence to avoid injuring them. In so doing, he is not justified in assuming that a young child will manifest the judgment and prudence of an experienced man, and must govern his own conduct with some reasonable degree of respect of that fact.”
Under the pleadings and facts and circumstances in this case, we are satisfied that, upon principle and in all good reason, the instruction was a proper one. It is supported by well reasoned cases such as Long v.
Other instructions discussed in the briefs include several that were given and twenty-three that were requested by the appellant and refused by the court. We find it not necessary to analyze and discuss them separately. The instructions that were given were comprehensive and, in our opinion, defined the law applicable to the case with fairness to both parties; while those that were refused consisted in part of duplications of what in effect was given, else they were not correct expositions of the law applicable to this case.
Affirmed.