Bertram v. Harris

423 P.2d 909, 1967 Alas. LEXIS 160
CourtAlaska Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 20, 1967
Docket677
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 423 P.2d 909 (Bertram v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alaska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bertram v. Harris, 423 P.2d 909, 1967 Alas. LEXIS 160 (Ala. 1967).

Opinions

OPINION

DIMOND, Justice.

Appellant’s and appellee’s cars collided in a street intersection in the city of Anchorage. Appellant brought this action for personal injuries caused by the accident. The jury’s verdict was in favor of appellee. Appellant has appealed, alleging 13 specifications of error on the part of the trial court. For convenience we group the asserted errors into three main categories: (1) those relating to motions for judgment and for a new trial, (2) those relating to the giving or failure to give certain instructions to the jury, and (3) those relating to the trial court’s exclusion of evidence.

1. Motions for Judgment and New Trial.

Prior to the trial appellant moved for summary judgment. The motion was denied. Appellant claims this was error.

Appellant suffered a loss of memory as a result of the accident and had no recollection of the collision. Brooks, a passenger in appellant’s car, testified by deposition that appellant’s car was traveling toward Anchorage on Gambell Street at about 35 miles an hour as they approached the intersection where the collision occurred, that he observed a flashing or blinking yellow light at the intersection, that as appellant’s car entered the intersection appellee’s car came “shooting into the intersection” from an intersecting street on the right, and that the cars collided. Brooks stated that appellee’s car was about a half a car’s length away when he first saw it, and that appellee “came up too fast and so suddenly that it was all over before it started. * * * ”

In a deposition appellee testified that he was traveling on Ninth Street at about 15 to 20 miles an hour, that the visibility was good, that he stopped when he got to the intersection of Ninth and Gambell Streets where there was a flashing red light facing him, that he looked to the right and left and did not see anybody and so started across the intersection, that at that moment appellant’s car hit his car, and that he hadn’t seen appellant’s car until the collision. The accident took place at about 2:30 a. m. Appellee stated that he had eaten no supper the evening before, that he had drunk from seven to ten 1-ounce drinks of whiskey from the time he went to work at 8:00 a. m. the morning before until 2:00 a. m. of the following day, the day of the accident, and that between midnight and 2:00 a. m. he did not recall having any drinks but that he might have.

Based on the foregoing testimony found in the depositions of Brooks and appellee, appellant contends that he made a prima facie case showing: (1) that appellee had violated Title 13, Section 85, Alaska Administrative Code,1 and Section 19-38 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Anchorage, 2 in that he failed to observe a [913]*913traffic control device, the flashing red light; (2) that appellee had violated Title 13, Section 102, Alaska Administrative Code,3 in that he failed to yield the right of way at a stop intersection; (3) that ap-pellee violated AS 28.35.0304 and Section 19-23 of the Anchorage Code5 by driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor; and (4) that appellee was guilty of driving his vehicle in a reckless and careless manner in violation of AS 28.35.-040(a).6 Appellant then argues that the foregoing traffic laws, ordinances and regulations were promulgated for the protection of travelers on highways, that appellant was one of the class of persons to be protected, that his injuries were caused by appellee’s violations of such laws, ordinances and regulations, that under our decision in Rogers v. Dubiel7 the burden was upon appellee to justify such violations, that he failed to sustain that burden, that there was thus established a prima facie case of negligence on appellee’s part which appellee failed to rebut, and therefore, that summary judgment ought to have been granted to appellant on the issue of appellee’s negligence.

Appellant’s argument and his reliance on Rogers v. Dubiel is based on the assumption that it was clear as a matter of fact that the accident was caused by appel-lee’s violation of the law and therefore there were no genuine issues of fact remaining for trial.8 That is not so. There [914]*914was an issue of fact as to the question of whether appellee stopped his car at the red flashing light before entering the intersection, because Brooks testified that appellee came “shooting” into the intersection and appellee testified that he had made a stop and had then proceeded across the intersection in a normal manner. There was an issue of fact as to whether appellee was guilty of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Appellant contends that because of the number of drinks that appellee admittedly had had, it follows that he was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. On the other hand, appellee testified that he was not at all “high” nor at all affected by the drinks that he had consumed. There was also an issue of fact as to whether appellee had failed to yield the right of way. Appellee pleaded, as an affirmative defense, contributory negligence on the part of appellant. Even assuming, arguendo, that appellee’s entry into the intersection without seeing appellant approaching amounted to a violation of some law, ordinance or regulation relating to the driving of a motor vehicle, and established negligence on appellee’s part, the contributory negligence of appellant would bar his recovery.9 Brooks testified that appellant was driving at a speed of 5 miles an hour in excess of the posted speed limit when he entered the intersection, that appellant’s car hit appellee’s car, and not vice versa, and that appellant did not apply his brakes when he saw appellee’s car enter the intersection. Brooks also testified that shortly before appellant entered the intersection a car passed appellant’s car going between SO and 60 miles an hour and that if “we had been going any faster we would have been in his trunk.” A fact finder could infer from this that appellant was traveling at a speed in excess of the speed that Brooks testified he was traveling, that is 35 miles an hour.

Such testimony raised factual questions as to whether appellant had acted as a reasonably prudent person would have acted under the circumstances for his own safety, i. e., .whether or not appellant was guilty of contributory negligence.10 There were genuine factual issues to be determined at the time appellant moved for a summary judgment, and therefore the court was correct in denying the motion for summary judgment.11

Appellant’s reliance on the case of Rogers v. Dubiel12 is misplaced. That case dealt with a situation where a person standing on a non-travelled portion of a highway was injured when he was struck by the defendant’s car which slid out of a traffic lane. We [915]*915held that in skidding out of the lane of traffic defendant violated the law, and since a collision resulted the burden of proving excuse or justification for the violation fell on the defendant and that he failed to discharge his burden. We said:

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Bluebook (online)
423 P.2d 909, 1967 Alas. LEXIS 160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bertram-v-harris-alaska-1967.