Beno v. Kloka

178 N.W. 646, 211 Mich. 116, 1920 Mich. LEXIS 663
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 20, 1920
DocketDocket No. 82
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 178 N.W. 646 (Beno v. Kloka) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beno v. Kloka, 178 N.W. 646, 211 Mich. 116, 1920 Mich. LEXIS 663 (Mich. 1920).

Opinion

Stone, J.

This case has been brought here by the plaintiff on writ of error, to review a verdict and judgment for the defendants rendered in the Wayne circuit court. The action was for damages for personal injuries sustained by the infant plaintiff when hit by an automobile owned by defendant Kloka, and, with his knowledge and permission, being then driven by the defendant Olscewski, on St. Aubin avenue, Detroit, at about 10 o’clock in the forenoon of April 15, 1916. The plaintiff was at the. time 5 years and 11 months of age. St. Aubin avenue runs north and south. In the block where plaintiff was injured, St. Aubin was crossed at the north side of the block by Maple street, and by Sherman street on the south side thereof. The plaintiff lived at the corner of St. Aubin and Sherman streets and upon the west side ■of St. Aubin avenue. He had been sent by his mother to a meat market on the opposite side of the avenue near Maple street to make a purchase, and at the time of the injury complained of, was returning home.

There was upon the trial no dispute as to the own[118]*118ership of the automobile that hit the plaintiff, that it was being driven with the owner’s consent, and that the driver failed to blow the horn or give other warning of her approach. The negligence complained of' was failure to give warning, and a rate of speed exceeding 10 miles an hour. There was no evidence on the part of the plaintiff that the rate of speed exceeded 10 miles an hour. The defendant Olscewski (having married before the trial and then bearing’ the name of Cosgrove) testified that she “was not going very much more than 10 miles an hour, because I had thrown out my clutch and had my brake half down.”

Both of the other witnesses for defendants testified that the rate of speed did not exceed 10 miles an hour. The plaintiff and the defendants presented different claims as to the manner of the injury; that of the plaintiff was that the boy, at the time the automobile approached, was standing in the middle of St. Aubin avenue, watching a truck go by, northwardly, and thus had his back to the automobile coming southerly ; that he was then in a place of danger, and that it was the duty of the driver of the automobile to keep such lookout as to see him in such place of danger, and to warn him of her approach, by horn or otherwise, and that her failure to do so constituted negligence, and was the proximate cause of the injury.

Mrs. Viola Long, the only eyewitness sworn on behalf of the plaintiff, testified as follows:

“I went into the meat shop as he came out. He had meat in his arms. When I went in the door, why, I seen William stop about the middle of the street, and there was a truck coming, and he had to hurry pretty fast to get to the middle of the street before the truck came. He stood there with his face to the truck, until the truck had passed him, and when the truck passed I stood on the steps and watched the child until he started to go home, after the truck had [119]*119passed him. Then he turned his back to the machine that was coming around the corner; it came from the west and came east on Maple, and then he turned right around on St. Aubin to go south, so when he started to. go home, he, instead - of turning his face towards the machine as. he came around, he turned his back, and he went kitty-corner across the street.
“Q. What happened then?
“A. Well, she came around the corner, and she didn’t blow any horn; she didn’t give no sign of any kind for the child to hear her; the. car didn’t make any noise because I didn’t hear it myself. And then the boy didn’t look back to see anything; when he didn’t hear anything, and she struck him right across the hip. * * * When he came out of the store and started home, he went right straight into the street, from the store door. Then this truck was coming, and he walked out in the middle of the street. He was going directly towards home, in an angling direction. The truck was going north. He stepped out and the truck passed him. Then he turned around to go across, turned his face towards home, and away from the automobile.”

The mother of the plaintiff testified that he was a bright, intelligent boy, — “a good smart little fellow”; that he had been instructed by her to “be careful when he saw an automobile,” and that he was acquainted with the neighborhood.

The claim of the defendants was that the plaintiff ran suddenly across the street, in front of the automobile, and that the accident was unavoidable. On behalf of the defendants the. two men in charge of the truck and the'defendant driver of the automobile testified. The substance of the testimony of the two men was that just as they crossed Sherman street they saw the plaintiff standing on the east curb, about 60 feet ahead; that the -truck was going about five miles an hour; that plaintiff “ran across, ran right on the bias, and ran right in front of the lady’s automobile.” The said defendant driver of the automobile testified as follows:

[120]*120' “First saw the truck just anead of me, on the opposite side; first saw the boy when he struck my car; he came from across the street; ran directly from the street across into my car; bumper on the left side struck him; he fell under the car; wheels did not touch him; I stopped, was then almost at a standstill; didn’t go over a car length.”

The case was submitted to the jury in a lengthy charge, and they returned a verdict for the defendants, and a judgment was entered accordingly. A motion for a new trial was denied. No exceptions were filed to the denial, and hence the only assignments of error that can be considered are those relating to the charge of the court. The first two assignments of error are too general to merit attention. There were no requests to charge.

The third assignment of error complains of the following portion of the charge:

“There is no question but that this child stood at or near the curb on St. Aubin avenue, and that he suddenly darted across the street. * * * Should the driver of the machine have anticipated, that is, using that degree of care and caution that an ordinarily prudent person would have exercised under the circumstances, would she have anticipated that this child would run across the street in front of her vehicle.”

The first part of the charge here complained of was reiterated in the following language:

“Now there can be no doubt that in this case that this child did rush across that street without judging of the circumstances.”

We are of the opinion that under the evidence it became a question of fact as to the manner in which the plaintiff crossed the street, and that the court should not have charged that “he suddenly darted across the street.” Whether the driver was guilty of negligence in not using due caution, and in not [121]*121having seen the plaintiff before the collision, was a question of fact for the consideration of the jury, under proper instructions as to her duty to exercise reasonable care.' What we have here said is applicable to the fourth assignment of error. The remaining assignments of error relate to that part of the charge dealing with the subject of contributory negligence. We quote that part of the charge, and the parts objected to are contained in parentheses:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 N.W. 646, 211 Mich. 116, 1920 Mich. LEXIS 663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beno-v-kloka-mich-1920.