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Forwood v. Sutton

4 Cal. App. 3d 342, 84 Cal. Rptr. 382, 1970 Cal. App. LEXIS 1532
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 1970
DocketCiv. 34283
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 4 Cal. App. 3d 342 (Forwood v. Sutton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Forwood v. Sutton, 4 Cal. App. 3d 342, 84 Cal. Rptr. 382, 1970 Cal. App. LEXIS 1532 (Cal. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

Appellant, the plaintiff in a personal injury action, has appealed from an adverse judgment entered after a jury verdict for the [345]*345defendant (respondent). The sole issue raised by this appeal concerns the propriety of the action of the trial court in refusing a jury instruction tendered by appellant on the doctrine of last clear chance. The instruction as tendered is conceded to be a correct statement of the law. The only question presented is thus the existence of evidence in the record to support the giving of the instruction. In determining the presence or absence of that evidence, we are required to view the record in the light most favorable to the instruction since a party is entitled to an instruction on his theory of the case if there is evidence to support the theory. We conclude that the evidence presented to the trial court in the case at bench required that the tendered instruction on last clear chance be given. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment.

Facts

Stated in the light most favorable to appellant’s theory of the applicability of the doctrine of last clear chance, the record discloses the following. The accident out of which the case at bench arose occurred at the juncture of the transition road from the eastbound Ventura Freeway with the southbound San Diego Freeway. The transition road is two lanes wide and the San Diego Freeway four lines in width at that point. At the junction there is a triangular area approximately 320 feet in length tapering from a width of over 20 feet at the north to a point at the south. The triangular area is marked with 8-inch chevron-shaped stripes. The area as diagrammed by the parties in the trial court, together with the lane designations employed at the trial, is as follows [Seep. 346, infra]:

At 4:30 p.m., appellant was driving his Opel station wagon southbound on the transition road from the Ventura Freeway to the San Diego Freeway. The car overheated and stalled. Appellant was able to reach the shoulder of the transition road with the car. He refused a tow. After the Opel had cooled, appellant was able to start it. The car, however, continued to malfunction and appellant was forced to stop it on the triangle marked with the chevron-shaped stripes. The car was stopped between the “number 2 lane” (the right or most westerly lane of the San Diego Freeway) and the “number 3 lane” (the left or most easterly lane of the transition road). It was well clear of both the “number 2” and “number 3” lanes. Appellant did not turn on his blinker signal or his lights. He remained in the car out of fear for his safety.

Approximately five minutes after appellant’s car stopped in the triangle, respondent approached driving south in the “number 2” lane (the most westerly or extreme right lane of the San Diego Freeway). Respondent was travelling approximately 55 miles per hour. His intended route of travel required that he exit the freeway at the Valley Vista off-ramp. To do so, he [347]*347was required to cross the “number 3” and “number 4” lanes (the two lanes constituting the transition road).

[346]

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Related

Wechlo v. Winyard
33 Cal. App. 3d 990 (California Court of Appeal, 1973)
Forwood v. Sutton
4 Cal. App. 3d 342 (California Court of Appeal, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 Cal. App. 3d 342, 84 Cal. Rptr. 382, 1970 Cal. App. LEXIS 1532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forwood-v-sutton-calctapp-1970.