194 Wis. 179 | Wis. | 1927
The court held as a matter of law that the defendant was negligent and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the injury. He further directed the jury to answer the first question of the special verdict in the affirmative. Under the construction placed by the court on sec. 85.02 of the Statutes, the court held that leaving the truck on the east edge of the concrete while it was undergoing repairs constituted negligence as a matter of law. The correctness of this view forms the crucial question to be determined by this court. The section referred to reads as follows:
“Except when making absolutely necessary repairs, no person shall park or leave any vehicle along, upon, or within the limits of any public highway in such manner as to interfere with the free passage of vehicles over and along such highway. In all cases there shall be left a free and usable passageway of at least eighteen feet so that vehicles going in'.opposite directions may pass without interference from any standing vehicle.”
What was the legislative intent in enacting this statute? What is the evil that the law-making body designed to regulate or obviate? Clearly it must be assumed that the legislature was aware of the varying widths of highways used for public travel in this state; that some highways are eighteen feet in width; others have a width, like the instant
Does the repairing of a punctured tire come under the statutory designation of “absolutely necessary repairs?” We are of the opinion that it does. Of course, if a breakdown in the mechanism or the parts of an automobile is of such a nature that a repair can only be made by a mechanic in a garage, or if the defect is of such a nature as to require a considerable time for repair, the leaving of the car in the position in which the instant car was left might violate the express terms of the statute or constitute common-law negligence. But in the instant case the truck had not been
In the recent case of Kastler v. Tures, 191 Wis. 120, 210 N. W. 415, in construing sec. 85.02 of the Statutes this court said in an opinion rendered by Mr. Justice Crown-hart:
“This statute applies to parking cars in the highway, an expression well understood to mean the voluntary act of leaving a car on the highway when not in use. This was not such a case. Plere there had been an accident. The wrecked car was in the ditch, with passengers in it, and the plaintiff was making a proper and necessary use of the highway under an emergency. . . . ”
In justice to the learned circuit judge before whom the instant case was tried, it must be said that the opinion in the Kastler Case had not been handed down at the time of the trial and decision in the lower court. Under the case last mentioned there was no parking of the truck in question. It was not voluntarily left upon the highway in the sense that the term “parking” is ordinarily used. The deceased was merely making an absolutely necessary repair, and his truck was permitted to remain standing upon a portion of the highway which was then usable, in a manner which would be least dangerous to others using the highway for the purposes of travel.
When the legislature in the second sentence in this statute .uses the language “In all cases there shall be left a free and usable passageway of at least eighteen feet so that vehicles
The statute in question was enacted in 1921 and was amended in 1923. The accident in the case of Schacht v. Quick, 178 Wis. 330, 190 N. W. 87, happened before the enactment of the statute of 1921. In that case it was held: “A traveler has the right to make reasonable use of the highway for the examination or repairs of his car while traveling. . . . ” Having come to the conclusion that the truck was not - parked, and- that sec. 85.02 of the Statutes was intended to regulate parking of cars upon the highway, the language in the Quick Case is clearly applicable. The legislature intended by the second sentence in sec. 85.02 to indicate that parking of cars shall not be permitted and shall be unlawful in any case where there shall not be left upon the portion of a highway a free and usable passageway of at least eighteen feet, etc. It was not intended that parking upon the highway should be prohibited altogether.
By the Court. — The judgment of the lower court is affirmed, for the reasons herein stated.