Hansen v. Storandt

285 N.W. 370, 231 Wis. 63, 1939 Wisc. LEXIS 145
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 11, 1939
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 285 N.W. 370 (Hansen v. Storandt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hansen v. Storandt, 285 N.W. 370, 231 Wis. 63, 1939 Wisc. LEXIS 145 (Wis. 1939).

Opinion

Wickhem, J.

The accident here involved occurred near the village of West Salem at the junction of State Trunk Highway No. 16 and County Trunk Highway C. At the point of collision Highway No. 16, a concrete road, runs in a generally northeasterly-southwesterly direction. County Trunk C runs north from the village of West Salem, and looking north the junction is in the shape of an inverted “Y” with the state trunk highway forming the northerly stem and the western fork of this “Y.” At about 8 o’clock p. m., on September 3, 1937, Storandt and a boy companion were returning from a fishing trip to their home in West Salem. They were proceeding south on Highway No. 16 and approaching the junction where the accident happened. At the same time Wittmer, who was accompanied by plaintiff, was [66]*66driving north on the state trunk highway and approaching the junction. Storandt turnéd to the left to- enter County Trunk C, and was struck by the Wittmer car as he entered the east half of the roadway. The front portion of the Witt-mer car struck the front right side of the Storandt car.

It is Storandt’s contention that he was proceeding slowly and carefully; that he put out his left hand as a signal for a left turn; that the Wittmer car was a sufficient distance away so that he had reasonable grounds to believe that he had time to pass, and that Wittmer would be able to see and respect his signal; that Wittmer was in fact going at a very high rate of speed, and failing to keep a proper lookout for the reason that his attention was centered upon a car proceeding north on Highway C and which would or might be in competition with him for the intersection or junction. Wittmer’s claim is that he was proceeding at a moderate rate of speed and keeping a proper lookout; that he saw the Storandt car and the car approaching on the county trunk highway, but that Storandt gave no' signal or evidence of his intention to turn until immediately before he actually did turn, and that he made such a sudden invasion of Wittmer’s path that the latter was unable to- stop his car or otherwise avoid the collision. The jury found that Storandt had given the signal of his intention to turn; it found, however, that he was negligent with respect to making his left turn under the conditions then existing, which means that he did not afford Wittmer a reasonable opportunity to avoid the collision because he turned too abruptly into the path of the latter’s car. While the jury exonerated Wittmer as to speed and management, it found that he failed to- keep a proper lookout, and it is a fair conclusion from the record that the jury was of the view that Wittmer had been giving too much of his attention to the car approaching from his right from along Highway C, and that he did not maintain such a lookout as would be effective to discover the left-turn signal.

[67]*67With respect to Storandt, the evidence presents a jury-question, and the findings cannot be disturbed. The jury believed Storandt’s testimony as to' giving a signal for a left turn, but concluded that he had turned too- abruptly, and had failed to afford Wittmer a reasonable opportunity to avoid the collision. The applicable statutes are secs. 85.18 (1) and 85.18 (5). These read as follows:

Sec. 85.18 (1) “. . . The driver of a vehicle approaching but not having entered an intersection shall yield the right of way to a vehicle within such intersection and turning therein to the left across-the line of travel of such first mentioned vehicle; provided, the driver of the vehicle turning left has given a plainly visible signal of intention to1 turn as aforesaid.”
Sec. 85.18 (5) “The operator of a vehicle within an intersection intending to' turn to> the left across the path of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction, may make such left turn where it is permitted only after affording a reasonable opportunity to the operator of such vehicle to avoid a collision.”

These are not alternative in operation. Sec. 85.18 (1), Stats., gives the right of way tO' the driver who is making a left turn only if the latter gives a plainly visible signal of intention to‘ turn. Sec. 85.18 (5), Stats., provides that persons making a left turn may do1 so only after affording reasonable opportunity to’ the operator of an approaching vehicle to’ avoid a collision. These are separate and distinct provisions. The first makes the right of way of the turning driver depend upon the giving of a signal for a left turn. The second requires that left turns be made only after affording a reasonable opportunity to- the driver of the approaching vehicle to’ avoid a collision. Thus, a person who makes a brief signal for a left turn followed by an abrupt and immediate movement of his vehicle to the left in such a manner as not to give an approaching car a reasonable opportunity to. avoid the collision may not exonerate himself merely by show[68]*68ing that he gave a signal. It is contended that such a view is repudiated in Grasser v. Anderson, 224 Wis. 654, 660, 273 N. W. 63. In that case the driver making the left turn did not give a signal of his intention. The court held that due to this circumstance this was not required under the provisions of sec. 85.18 (1) to yield the right of way to him. The court then said:

“Under those circumstances, the applicable and controlling statutory provision is the following, in sec. 85.18 (5), Stats.”

After quoting the provisions of sub. (5), the court said:

“In view of that provision, Grasser should not have turned left into- the west lane until after he had afforded Anderson, as the driver of an approaching car, a reasonable opportunity to avoid a collision. ... In other words, because of Grasser’s failure to' first give Anderson a plainly visible signal of his intention to' turn left'into the latter’s pathway, Grasser was entitled tO' make the turn only after first affording a reasonable opportunity to Anderson to avoid a collision, as he approached, under the existing and apparent circumstances.”

While the opinion as thus phrased gives color to the contentions of Storandt, all that the court meant to decide was that no signal for a left turn having been given, the question of right of way was out of the case and the only applicable statute was sub. (5). This is literally true, and we have no disposition to recede from this position. It was not intended to hold that one who' makes a left-turn signal thereby acquires a right SO' to proceed across the highway as not to afford approaching drivers a reasonable opportunity to avoid a collision. The giving of a signal is the condition upon which the turning driver’s right of way depends. But even the existence of a right of way, while a circumstance that is entitled to considerable weight in resolving issues of negligence, gives no1 driver the right to proceed carelessly or recklessly into the path of another car under circumstances which give the other car inadequate opportunity to avoid a collision. In this case we think the jury was entitled to believe from the [69]*69evidence that while a signal was given, it was so immediately followed by an abrupt turn across the path of the Wittmer car as not to- give Wittmer an adequate opportunity to- avoid the accident. Hence, it is our conclusion that there was a jury question so far as Storandt’s negligence was concerned.

The contention of Wittmer that the finding of negligent lookout is not sustained presents more difficulties.

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Bluebook (online)
285 N.W. 370, 231 Wis. 63, 1939 Wisc. LEXIS 145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hansen-v-storandt-wis-1939.