Herndobler v. Goodwin

34 N.E.2d 8, 310 Ill. App. 267, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 823
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 23, 1941
DocketGen. No. 41,548
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 34 N.E.2d 8 (Herndobler v. Goodwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Herndobler v. Goodwin, 34 N.E.2d 8, 310 Ill. App. 267, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 823 (Ill. Ct. App. 1941).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Burke

delivered the opinion of the court.

Plaintiff, a four-year-old boy, filed a complaint in the circuit court of Cook county for personal injuries suffered as a result of the alleged negligence of the defendant in the operation of an automobile. The jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty and assessing plaintiff’s damages at the sum of $6,500. The court overruled defendant’s motion for a new trial and entered judgment on the verdict. This appeal followed.

The accident occurred on July 9, 1938, a few minutes before 8:00 a. m. on Avenue M, between 101st and 102nd street in the city of Chicago. Avenue M is 38 feet wide from curb to curb and runs north and south. 102nd street is 32 feet wide from curb to curb and runs east and west. The northeast corner of the intersection is vacant and unimproved for a distance of more than 104 feet north of the north building line of 102nd street. The home of the boy is situated on the east side of Avenue M about 110 feet north of 102nd street. The plaintiff, a boy about three feet in height, was standing on the parkway between the curb and the sidewalk on the east side of the street, about five feet behind the rear of a car parked in front of his home. He was watching a relative pack the car. Plaintiff maintains that the evidence shows that there was' only one car parked in front of his home. Defendant, on the other hand, insists that there were two or three automobiles parked in front of plaintiff’s home, and that plaintiff was injured when he darted into the street between two of these automobiles. Plaintiff’s father had just alighted from the right-hand side of a southbound automobile on the opposite or west side of Avenue M and about 60 feet south of their home. When the boy saw his father cross the street he started to run toward him. The defendant Goodwin was driving a 1935 Studebaker car in a northerly direction upon Avenue M and approaching 102nd street at a speed (according to defendant) of 20 to 28 miles per hour. As he approached 102nd street he applied his brakes and crossed the intersection at 18 to 20 miles per hour. Goodwin testified that at this time he saw a car which had been proceeding in a southerly direction on Avenue M pull over to the west side of the street and stop west of the Herndobler home. Plaintiff’s father was a passenger in this car. Goodwin stated that he was about 20 feet south of the car when it stopped. He further testified that as the car came to a stop, the wheels turned out to the center and drew his (defendant’s) attention; that the left door started to open or did open and there was a movement which made him (Goodwin) glance to his left; that his car was about even with the car which had come to a stop; that the father of the boy saw the boy leave the safety of the curb and also saw Goodwin’s car approaching from the south, and yelled; that the boy’s mother, who was on the sidewalk on the east side of the street, screamed; that he (Goodwin) heard the scream, jammed on his brakes, looked straight ahead but did not see anything; that he started to release his brakes when he heard another scream and he then came to a dead stop, and that between the time he heard the first scream and the time he stopped his car he traveled about 20 feet along Avenue M. On behalf of plaintiff there is testimony that after plaintiff’s father had alighted from the southbound car in which he had been riding, plaintiff saw his father and started to run toward him; that his father glanced to the south and saw defendant’s car just entering the intersection of 102nd street and Avenue M, or over 120 feet south of the child; that the defendant’s car was northbound; that the father yelled and that when he did so the child turned and started to run north on Avenue M and was struck by defendant’s car, northbound, about even with the middle of the car that was parked directly in front of the Herndobler home. The evidence shows that when the father yelled he ran into the street; that before he could reach the boy, defendant’s car passed by him, and that when it passed him, defendant was looking to the west and back over his left shoulder. There is testimony that at the time of the accident there was no car parked between the point where the child left the curb on the east side of Avenue M and 102nd street, a distance of 120 feet or more. There is testimony that the defendant’s car was going 40 to 45 miles an hour as it crossed 102nd street. Defendant testified that he stopped within 20 feet after he heard the scream. Plaintiff’s father testified that the defendant’s car traveled about 90 feet after it struck the child before coming to a stop. The evidence shows that both of plaintiff’s legs were broken a few inches below the hip joint with displacement of the upper and lower fragments; that he received two gashes in his head, each requiring five sutures; that these gashes extended down from the skull; that when he was examined at the hospital his skin was cold and clammy, his pupils dilated and his pulse weak and thready; and that he suffered a hrain injury, cerebral depression of the brain centers and had skin abrasions . on his face, arms and hands. It was necessary, due to the location and severity of the breaks, to place both legs in Thomas splints, and he was placed in a bed with his head down and feet up at a 45 degree angle with pulleys and weights attached to the Thomas splints. He hung in that position for one month. He was then placed in a plaster cast completely covering the lower part of his body. He remained in the cast a little over a month. When the cast was removed, his feet were everted, that is, turned out. At that time he was unable to walk, and had to learn to walk all over again. He was confined to his bed for some weeks after the cast was taken off. He started to crawl a few weeks later. He was unable to stand by himself or get around on his legs until the spring of the following year, then, when he walked he threw his feet out and was stiff from his knees up. There is evidence that when he started to walk he- walked with a “Charlie Chaplin manner of throwing his feet.” Plaintiff maintains that at the time of the trial this condition persisted, and that the jury had an opportunity to observe such condition for themselves. There was evidence that since the accident and up to the time of the trial the boy had been nervous and had not slept well and had been under the care of a doctor.

It is obvious that the testimony presented to the jury a question of fact as to whether defendant so carelessly and negligently drove his automobile that by means of such negligence and as a proximate result thereof the automobile struck the plaintiff, by means whereof he sustained the injuries complained of. Defendant maintains that the trial court committed error in giving the following instruction:

“You are hereby instructed that no owner or operator of an automobile is necessarily exempt from liability for collision on a public highway by simply showing that at the time of the accident he did not run at a rate of speed exceeding the limit allowed by the law. On the contrary, he still remains bound to anticipate that he may meet persons at any point in the public highway and he must keep a proper lookout for them, and keep the motor vehicle under such control as will enable him to avoid a collision with another person using said highway.” This instruction apparently was taken from the language found in Kessler v. Washburn, 157 Ill. App. 532.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 N.E.2d 8, 310 Ill. App. 267, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/herndobler-v-goodwin-illappct-1941.