Guillot v. Hagman

86 P.2d 865, 30 Cal. App. 2d 582, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 559
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 27, 1939
DocketCiv. 12006
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 86 P.2d 865 (Guillot v. Hagman) 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
Guillot v. Hagman, 86 P.2d 865, 30 Cal. App. 2d 582, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 559 (Cal. Ct. App. 1939).

Opinions

GRAIL, P. J.

This is an appeal by the Kelley Kar Company from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff in an action for damages arising out of a collision between an automobile, driven by defendant Earl Hagman, and plaintiff as a pedestrian. It is the contention of the appellant that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, and that as a matter of law defendant Earl Hagman was not guilty of any negligence. It is our duty to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.

The accident occurred after dark on September 26, 1937, at the intersection of Eureka Drive with Ventura Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles. Ventura Boulevard runs east and west, but curves slightly at the intersection. Eureka Drive extends into Ventura Boulevard, but not beyond it. Shortly before the accident the plaintiff parked his automobile on the south side of Ventura Boulevard, a few feet west of Eureka Drive, walked to the southwest corner of the intersection and, as a pedestrian, started to cross Ventura Boulevard. The plaintiff proceeded a distance of from 7 to 10 feet from the curb, then stopped, waiting for traffic conditions to be favorable so that he could proceed safely. During that period 25 or 30 cars with their lights lit passed in both directions. After looking both east and west, the plaintiff, thinking his way clear, proceeded to cross Ventura Boulevard, continuing to look in both directions while doing so. He proceeded until he passed the double white line marking the center of the boulevard, a distance of over 60 feet from the south curb and, continuing for a short distance, was struck without warning by the right front portion of defendants’ ear which was operated by defendant Earl Hagman, the son of defendant Paul Hagman, and which was proceeding in a westerly direction along Ventura Boulevard. The ear had been purchased from appellant by Paul Hagman under a conditional sales contract on the previous day. Defendant Earl Hagman did not see plaintiff until he was within a distance of 25 feet from the point of impact. At the time of the accident the street lights at the intersection were lighted. In attempting to cross the boulevard, plaintiff was following a course which represented the shortest distance between the north and south curb lines of the boulevard.

[585]*585The principal argument advanced by appellant in support of its contention that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law and that as a matter of law defendant Earl Hagman was not guilty of any negligence is that plaintiff was not crossing the boulevard in an unmarked crosswalk and therefore was not entitled to the right of way. Such issues become issues of law instead of fact only when the facts are clear and indisputable, and when no other inference than that of contributory negligence or lack of negligence can be drawn from the facts. (McQuigg v. Childs, 213 Cal. 661 [3 Pac. (2d) 309].) In our opinion, the evidence was such that the question of contributory negligence of the plaintiff or lack of negligence on the part of defendant Earl Hagman was one of fact which was properly submitted to the jury for its determination.

Appellant claims that a prolongation of the sidewalk lines of the sidewalk on the west side of Eureka Drive across the boulevard represents the unmarked crosswalk, relying upon section 85 of the Motor Vehicle Code. This section defines an unmarked crosswalk to be: “That portion of a roadway ordinarily included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles.” Since the center line of Eureka Drive intersects the tangent of the curve of Ventura Boulevard at about a 65 degree or 70 degree angle, it cannot be said that the intersecting roadways meet at right angles. Plaintiff in his attempt to cross the boulevard was following a course at right angles to the tangent of the curve of the boulevard, such course representing the shortest distance between the north and south curb lines from the southwest corner of the intersection. If plaintiff had been compelled tó follow the course suggested by appellant in order to be within the unmarked crosswalk, he would have been exposed to danger for an unreasonably long time because of the greater length of such diagonal course. Municipal ordinance, section 80.39, of the city of Los Angeles provides: “No pedestrian shall cross a roadway at any place other than by a route at right angles to the curb, or by the shortest route to the opposite curb except in a marked crosswalk.” The course which plaintiff was following was fully in compliance with the above ordinance. There was sufficient evidence to sustain the implied finriing of the jury that plaintiff was within the zone in [586]*586which he might rightfully assume that defendant Earl Hag-man and other motorists would exercise reasonable care to avoid hitting him.

There is substantial evidence in the record to sustain the implied findings of the jury that the defendant driver was guilty of negligence which was The proximate cause of the accident, and that the plaintiff was free from negligence which contributed to the accident.

The appellant next contends that the instructions of the court on the subject of negligence and contributory negligence were erroneous and prejudicial. Appellant’s objections, however, are mainly based upon the claim that the plaintiff was negligent as a matter of law and that there was no evidence to show that the defendant driver was negligent. We have already held that these contentions are untenable. All of the instructions, but one, concerning which appellant complains under this point have heretofore been approved by the appellate courts of this state.

The instruction which has not heretofore been approved is a formula instruction which contains the phrase, “therefore, ... if you believe . . . that the plaintiff, E. F. Guillot, being himself free from any negligence contributing directly and proximately to the happening of the accident, . . . ” The contention of the appellant is that this formula instruction leaves out the element of contributory negligence, and appellant even contends that the instruction directs the jury that the plaintiff was free from any negligence. But the fact is that in six or seven other instructions the court carefully instructed the jury, at the defendants’ request, on the question of the contributory negligence of the plaintiff. The court merely used the wrong tense of the verb when it used the word “being”, intending to use the word “was”, so that in essence the instruction read, “if you believe from the evidence that the plaintiff, E. F. Guillot, was himself free from any negligence”, etc. There is nothing in appellant’s contention which would warrant a reversal.

The appellant next contends that the judgment against it is without support in the evidence and is contrary to law. In this respect, it should be noted that appellant entered into a valid conditional sales contract for the sale of the automobile to defendant Paul E. Hagman at about 12 o’clock noon on Saturday, September 25, 1937, and at that time delivered possession of the car to defendant Hag-[587]*587man. The accident occurred on the following day, which was Sunday. The notice of transfer required by section 177 (b) of the Vehicle Code was not sent in until a later date and was not received by the department of motor vehicles until October 8, 1937.

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Guillot v. Hagman
86 P.2d 865 (California Court of Appeal, 1939)

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Bluebook (online)
86 P.2d 865, 30 Cal. App. 2d 582, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guillot-v-hagman-calctapp-1939.