Coombs v. Perry

275 P.2d 680, 2 Utah 2d 381, 1954 Utah LEXIS 227
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 22, 1954
Docket8097
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 275 P.2d 680 (Coombs v. Perry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coombs v. Perry, 275 P.2d 680, 2 Utah 2d 381, 1954 Utah LEXIS 227 (Utah 1954).

Opinions

CROCKETT, Justice.

Plaintiff Iona Coombs was struck down by the defendant’s car as she walked westward in a pedestrian walk on Washington Boulevard in Ogden. Defendant appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict, contending, (1) that plaintiff failed to prove that he was negligent and (2) that the trial court should have ruled as a matter of law that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in failing to keep out of his way.

The basis of defendant’s appeal is that the evidence so conclusively supports his views as to these two points that the court was required to so rule as a matter of law and should not have submitted 'the matter to the jury. The plaintiff having-won a judgment below, the verdict is protected by a bulwark of rules firmly established in our law. First, by the general proposition that the judgment and proceedings in the lower court are presumptively correct with the burden upon defendant to show error.1 Second, where a trial judge has passed upon a question and a jury, presumably fair and impartial, has mada-a finding, while such is not controlling, it is at least entitled to some consideration and should not be wholly ignored in reviewing the situation and attempting to see, as objectively as possible, whether reasonable minds might so conclude.2 Third, that the court must review the evidence, together with every inference fairly arising therefrom, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and similarly, must consider any lack or failure of evidence in the same light,3 which we do in reviewing the facts here.

The plaintiff and her friend, Della Robertson, were walking southward on the east side of Washington Boulevard, Ogden’s main street, between 26th and 27th Streets (just south of the busiest part of town) in the evening about twilight. As they [384]*384reached the mid-block crosswalk, plaintiff looked to the north and saw a bus a block and a half away. She decided to cross the street to see if it was her bus. Miss Robertson in the meantime, waited on the east side of the street. Plaintiff walked west to the middle of the street, stopped and looked north. Seeing no vehicles between herself and the corner, she took a few steps westerly when she suddenly became aware of headlights to the north and was immediately thereafter struck by defendant’s automobile. She observed the defendant standing over her and said: “Where on earth did you come from ? I didn’t see you.” Della Robertson watched plaintiff; saw her stop at the center and look to the north; she also says that she did not observe any automobile between the plaintiff and the corner.

Defendant’s version was that he drove from the west on 26th Street, turned right and proceeded south on Washington in the right hand lane; that there was a car in front and to his left which obstructed his view so that he did not see the plaintiff, his first warning of the accident being the sound of the impact of his car against her. In conflict with defendant’s testimony, however, was that of a Mr. John Bums, who had come on to Washington Boulevard from the east at the same corner, and was driving to the left and rear of the defendant. He testified that there was no vehicle to the front and left of the defendant but that the defendant swerved from the right hand lane to the left as he approached the crosswalk where plaintiff was struck. The parties also disagree as to the manner of impact, the defendant claiming that the plaintiff walked into the side of his car, whereas the plaintiff’s evidence is that she was struck on the right leg by the left front part of defendant’s car.

It is unnecessary to discuss in any great detail the defendant’s contention that there is no evidence of his negligence. It is to be borne in mind that although the motorist and pedestrian are both required to exercise the same standard of care, that of the ordinary prudent person under the circumstances, that standard imposes upon the motorist a greater amount of caution than upon the pedestrian because of the potential danger to others in the operation of an automobile.4 Inasmuch as it is uncontrovertible that the plaintiff was struck in the marked crosswalk, and the defendant himself says he didn’t see her at all, it seems unquestionable that a jury question existed as to whether he kept a proper lookout for pedestrians at the crosswalk, or, even if it were to be assumed that he did so, whether he observed due care in affording the plaintiff the right-of-way to which she was entitled.5 The language of the Court in the case of Douglas v. Hoff 6 is in point: “Defendant’s testimony alone was [385]*385sufficient to prove his negligence. He drove a car through a crosswalk and struck a pedestrian without seeing her until he had stopped his car and looked back to see where she lay in the street. If other cars partially obstructed his view of part of the crosswalk, which the jury may have well doubted, he should have been all the more cautious in driving through it. If plaintiff was in the crosswalk * * * defendant’s unexplained failure to yield the right of way would have constituted negligence. 4= 4= *

This brings us to the problem of importance: Defendant claims that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, which if so, would bar her recovery.7

The test we apply is whether from all of the evidence, reasonable minds could fairly say that they were not convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that she failed to use reasonable care under the circumstances and that this resulted in proximately contributing to cause her injury. Or, to state the proposition affirmatively, was the evidence so clear and compelling that all reasonable minds must say that it was established by a preponderance of the evidence that she was negligent and that such was a proximate cause of her injury? 8

In contending that this latter question must be answered affirmatively, defendant relies upon the proposition that the plaintiff must be deemed to have seen what was there to be seen, citing a number of cases handed down by this and other courts in support thereof;9 and also urges that the plaintiff was negligent in leaving a place of safety and walking into the path of his automobile, citing other authorities.10 With these propositions of law we are in accord. But cases cited by defendant which involve accidents occurring outside of lawfully designated crosswalks are for that reason distinguishable from the instant one; other authorities apply these maxims of law in crosswalk cases and do in fact more closely resemble our situation,11 but an analysis of such authorities will reveal significant factual differences from the case at bar. Usually the pedestrian had just stepped from the curb into a traffic lane, or out from behind a vehicle or other object obstructing the [386]*386view, into the path of an oncoming automobile.

Typical of such cases is Mingus v. Olsson12 from this court, relied upon by the defendant. There the deceased and his wife were standing on the curb, where they might not so readily be seen, and where they might remain indefinitely.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 P.2d 680, 2 Utah 2d 381, 1954 Utah LEXIS 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coombs-v-perry-utah-1954.