Bocchi v. Karnstedt

56 N.W.2d 628, 238 Minn. 257, 1953 Minn. LEXIS 555
Supreme Court of Minnesota·Decided January 9, 1953·No. 35,702, 35,836·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinions

Magnet, Justice.

On February 5, 1950, at about 8 p. m., plaintiff was a guest passenger in an automobile owned and operated by defendant Hubert J. Bartlett. At the intersection of France avenue and West 89th street in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, the boundary between the municipalities being the center line of France avenue, a collision took place between the automobile of defendant Bartlett and an automobile owned and operated by defendant Oal B. Karnstedt. Plaintiff was seriously injured. She brought an action against both automobile owners and recovered a verdict against them. Defendant Bartlett made an alternative motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial, and defendant Karnstedt moved for a new trial. The court granted defendant Bartlett’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and denied defendant Karnstedt’s motion. Judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff against defendant Karnstedt, and he appeals to this court from the orders granting defendant Bartlett’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and denying his own motion for a new trial and also from the judgment.

Defendant Bartlett’s car was a two-door Chevrolet. Plaintiff, Ursula Bocchi, was seated on the right-hand side of the front seat. A Mrs. Blanche Lenont was seated between plaintiff and Bartlett. [259] Mrs. Bartlett and a son, James, were in the rear seat, the former on the right-hand side. Bartlett was driving southerly on France avenue. He had on the city driving lights. Bartlett was well acquainted with France avenue and knew that it was a through or arterial highway, protected on each side by stop signs. France avenue, between West 38th and West 39th street, has a five-percent downgrade. That block is approximately 585 feet long. France avenue is 36 feet wide, and West 39th street is 32 feet wide. Bartlett testified that he came down from 38th street at a speed of 20 to 25 miles an hour until near the intersection of 39th street. He looked for traffic on 39th street and saw none coming from the east. When about 100 to 125 feet from the intersection, he saw a car coming from the west. Both cars were at that time about the same distance from the intersection and traveling at about the same speed. Bartlett said that he continued on his way because he knew that France avenue was a through street and that the oncoming car from the west would be required to come to a full stop. He further stated that, when he reached the point where a crosswalk would be if one existed, he realized the other car was not going to stop, so he applied his brakes and turned to the left to avoid the collision. The other car did not change its speed and was still going 20 to 25 miles an hour. The right front of Bartlett’s car collided with the left front side of the Karnstedt car, the two sides came together, and the Bartlett car spun like a top. When it stopped it was headed in a northerly direction but not on the main traveled portion of either street. Debris from the collision was found about a foot over on the west side of France avenue and a little to the south of the center line of 39th street. When Bartlett’s car came to rest, the left front was 33 feet and six inches from the debris. Karnstedt’s car was then 62 feet from the debris. Both cars were southeast of the intersection. The Karnstedt car stopped in a swamp, having gone over the curb, through quite a bit of snow, and through a fence.

Sixty-seven feet west from the intersection on 39th street one is able to see the headlights of cars coming down France avenue from [260] as far up as 38th street. Bert Cole, Karnstedt’s passenger, testified: “Well, we approached France Avenue about 20 miles an hour, and stopped at the stop sign adjacent to it, and I looked to the right and up to the left I could see a car some distance, and then Mr. Karnstedt proceeded through the intersection.” Cole was then asked: “What place in the block was it when you picked up sight of it?” He answered, “Well, I would say approximately 150 to 175 feet.” He said that the Karnstedt car was then in a stopped position at the stop sign, that he saw the Bartlett car travel 50 to 75 feet altogether at a rate of 40 miles per hour, and that he noticed slackening of the speed of the Bartlett car about 20 feet away “approximately.” It had started to swerve then. On cross-examination, he said that, when he saw the Bartlett car the second time, it was á foot or two away from the Karnstedt car. Karnstedt testified that he did not know at what speed Bartlett was coming down France avenue. After the accident, plaintiff was found underneath the Bartlett car between the front and rear wheels on the right-hand side. The car was tipped over on its left side to get her out. She was severely injured and unconscious.

Police officers, who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident, testified that there was a strong odor of alcohol on Karnstedt’s breath. About an hour and a half afterward they spoke to him at the hospital and the odor of alcohol was still present. Karnstedt and his passenger, Bert Cole, had been ice fishing at Lake Minnetonka that afternoon and said that on their way home they had stopped at a friend’s house and had a couple of drinks.

Under the testimony, defendant Karnstedt was aware of the stop sign and chose to ignore it. As we said in Olson v. Anderson, 224 Minn. 216, 218, 28 N. W. (2d) 66, 68:

“* * * By doing so, he violated his duty to stop, look for, and yield the right of way to cars within the zone where they constituted an immediate hazard.”

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Bocchi v. Karnstedt, 56 N.W.2d 628, 238 Minn. 257, 1953 Minn. LEXIS 555 (Mich. 1953).

56 N.W.2d 628 (Bocchi v. Karnstedt) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Bocchi v. Karnstedt
56 N.W.2d 628 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1953)