Choate v. Swanson

Washington Supreme Court

Choate v. Swanson

344 P.2d 502, 54 Wash. 2d 710, 1959 Wash. LEXIS 455

CourtWashington Supreme Court

DecidedOctober 1, 1959

Docket34836

StatusPublished

Cited by6 cases

This text of 344 P.2d 502 (Choate v. Swanson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Choate v. Swanson, 344 P.2d 502, 54 Wash. 2d 710, 1959 Wash. LEXIS 455 (Wash. 1959).

Pincite

Opinion

Ott, J.

The traffic signals at the intersection of 205th avenue north (secondary state highway No. 2-B) with Aurora avenue (primary state highway No. 1), in King county, as shown by the accompanying diagram, serve a dual purpose of (1) regulating traffic on Aurora avenue as it approaches the intersection from the north, south, east, and west, and (2) directing all such traffic destined for Edmonds into the Edmonds storage lane for a left turn off of Aurora avenue.

Those whose destination is Edmonds, and who are approaching on Aurora avenue from the south on the inside lane of travel, are confronted, at the intersection, by a flashing red light, as well as by a four-way red and green signal light which regulates traffic approaching from the north and south on Aurora avenue, and from the east and west on 205th avenue north, and which also permits right and left-hand turns onto 205th avenue north and Aurora avenue.

Those whose destination is Edmonds, and who are approaching the intersection from the east on 205th avenue north, have two courses of travel available: (1) crossing Aurora avenue diagonally to the Edmonds storage lane from the northbound lane on 205th avenue north, or (2) making a right-angle turn near the center of Aurora avenue from the through lane on 205th avenue north and proceeding into the storage lane.

*712 The intersection shown in the diagram was the situs of the automobile collision involved in this appeal.

At approximately 10:00 p. m., March 16, 1957, Mrs. Thelma L. Choate was operating the family automobile in a westerly direction on 205th avenue north. As she approached the intersection of 205th avenue north with Aurora avenue, she followed the state highway road sign which directed traffic traveling north toward Everett into the extreme right-hand lane. Her destination was the city of Edmonds. She stopped at the intersection and, when the green directional arrow flashed on for traffic northbound toward Everett, she proceeded at a rate of speed between five and ten miles an hour diagonally across Aurora avenue into the inside lane for northbound traffic, being the storage lane for automobiles traveling to Edmonds. As she entered the storage lane (at the point marked “X” on the diagram), the left side of her automobile was struck on the rear wheel and rear door by an automobile driven by Cecilia H. Swanson, who just previously had been traveling north on the inside lane on Aurora avenue and was likewise proceeding into the Edmonds storage lane.

Traffic on the lane being travelled by Mrs. Swanson was controlled by a flashing red signal at the center of the intersection, and by a four-way red and green signal, as above described and as shown on the diagram.

Arthur W. Choate and Thelma L. Choate, husband and wife, commenced this action against Laurence E. Swanson and Cecilia H. Swanson, husband and wife, to recover for damages they suffered as a result of the alleged negligence of Cecilia H. Swanson in her operation of their family automobile.

The defendants denied liability and cross-complained for their damages from the Choates for the alleged negligence of the driver of the Choate automobile. The reply denied the affirmative matters pleaded and the alleged negligence pleaded in the cross-complaint.

The cause was tried to the court, sitting without a jury. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, and the dis-

*713

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