186 Wis. 537 | Wis. | 1925
The plaintiff in this case is the owner of a Ford coupé which was demolished when a trailer on one of the street cars of the defendant company in the city of Milwaukee caught upon a truck and forced the truck through the coupé, which was parked along the side of the street.
The defendant’s street car with a trailer attached was moving north on Third street and stopped at the intersection of Third and Sycamore streets while the east-and-westbound traffic was moving. Upon the signal from the traffic officer the motorman proceeded to make a turn to the left for the purpose of proceeding westward upon Sycamore street. The truck in question, which belonged to the Wilson Express Company, had stopped alongside of the street car, also waiting for the signal from the traffic officer, and upon receiving it started to make the same turn as the street car, but stopped before completing the turn to allow a belated west-bound automobile to proceed on Sycamore street. After starting the truck again the driver perceived that the coupé of the plaintiff was parked on the north side of Sycamore street about thirty-five or forty feet from the crosswalk and that just beyond the coupé was an ice wagon, and that there' was not room enough for the truck to pass while the street car and the trailer were passing these obstructions, so the truck was stopped when headed west on Sycamore street and the street car proceeded. .The street car passed
’ The motorman testified that he did not notice the truck; that he did not hear the collision nor the shouts of people in the truck or on the street; that his'attention was concentrated on the question of whether he could pass the ice wagon; that as soon ás he received the emergency signal from the conductor he at' once applied the brakes and brought the'car to a’stop within six or eight feet. The conductor testified that he was just putting his book away when he heard the shouting, and on turning around saw the trailer had caught upon the truck; that he at once gave the emergency signal and stepped out on the platform; that when he stepped upon the platform the truck had already crashed into the coupé, and before the street car stopped the truck struck the ice wagon; that the trailer had begun to straighten out into Sycamore street before the accident occurred. The driver of the truck testified that when he perceived that he could not pass the coupé and ice wagon he stopped and that at that time the motorman was looking at him; that when the trailer caught the truck he sounded the exhaust whistle and shouted, as did also two others with him in the truck, and that a party on the street also started shouting to the motorman; that his front wheels had not crossed the crosswalk on Sycamore when the trailer caught the truck. The judge directed a verdict for the defendant, and from this verdict this appeal is brought.
The negligence charged in the complaint was that the motorman failed to maintain a proper lookout to avoid collision ; that the car wás not equipped with proper brakes and stopping appliances, or that if it was so equipped they were not used as required; that the bell was not sounded as a
The motorman testified that he heard no yelling and felt no jar. In a city like Milwaukee it is probable that such noises as shouting on the streets and the whistling of automobiles is not uncommon. Of course a motorman’s first
There is hot the dispute which is usual in collision cases as to the rate of speed. The lowest estimate of the speed pf the street car was six'and the highest ten miles an hour. There is testimony that as the street car rounded the curve it speeded up a little. The testimony is undisputed that as soon as the conductor had notice of the collision he gave the emergency signal and that the motorman on receiving the
“When the trial judge rules, either on motion for non-suit, motion for a directed verdict, or motion to set aside the verdict, that there is or is not sufficient evidence upon a given question to take the case to the jury, the trial court has such superior advantages for judging of the weight of the testimony and its relevancy and effect that this court should not disturb the decision merely because, on a doubtful balancing of probabilities, the mind inclines slightly against the decision, but only when the mind is clearly convinced that the conclusion of the trial judge is wrong.” Slam v. Lake Superior T. & T. R. Co. 152 Wis. 426, 140 N. W. 30; Elmergreen v. Kern, 174 Wis. 622, 182 N. W. 947.
By the Court. — Judgment affirmed.