Johnson v. Warner

254 P.2d 124, 116 Cal. App. 2d 598, 1953 Cal. App. LEXIS 1107
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 10, 1953
DocketCiv. No. 19068
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 254 P.2d 124 (Johnson v. Warner) 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
Johnson v. Warner, 254 P.2d 124, 116 Cal. App. 2d 598, 1953 Cal. App. LEXIS 1107 (Cal. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

WOOD (Parker), J.

Plaintiffs, husband and wife, filed separate actions for damages allegedly sustained as the result of a collision between their automobile and an automobile owned by defendant John P. Warner, and operated by defendant Joanne Marie Warner, a minor. Defendants filed answers in which they denied negligence and alleged, as an affirmative defense, that plaintiff Elmore M. Johnson, who was operating plaintiffs’ automobile at the time of the collision, was guilty of contributory negligence. The actions were consolidated for trial. The court found, among other things, that defendant Joanne Marie Warner and the plaintiff Elmore M. Johnson were negligent and that the accident proximately resulted from the negligence of each of said persons. Judgment was for defendants and plaintiffs appeal therefrom.

Appellants contend in effect that the evidence does not support the finding of contributory negligence. Respondents concede that the evidence supports the finding of negligence on the part of Joanne Marie Warner.

The accident occurred about 5:30 p. m. on January 28, 1950, at the intersection of Oxnard and Colfax Avenues in North Hollywood. Oxnard Avenue extends east and west, and Colfax extends north and south. There were boulevard stop signs requiring traffic on Colfax to stop before entering the intersection. There were no boulevard stop signs requiring traffic on Oxnard to stop before entering the intersection. Plaintiffs’ automobile was traveling south on Colfax in the inside lane for southbound traffic. The Warner automobile was traveling east on Oxnard in the inside lane for eastbound traffic.

Plaintiff Elmore M. Johnson, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, testified it was getting dark, there was a misty rain and the streets were wet; the lights of his automobile were on, and the windshield wipers were operating; he made a boulevard stop before he entered the intersection and shifted into low gear; he saw an automobile proceeding northerly on Colfax about 100 feet south of Oxnard; he looked to the east and saw no automobile; he then looked to the west and saw one automobile (Warner’s) at a point about 300 feet west of the intersection; the lights of the automobile were on and it was proceeding toward the intersection at a speed [600]*600of 30 to 35 miles an hour; plaintiff then proceeded to cross the street; he didn’t turn and keep his eyes on the automobile but it was coming toward him; he glanced at the automobile and it was increasing its speed—it was coming at a terrific rate of speed; at this time plaintiff was getting right up to the center of the intersection; plaintiffs’ automobile was still in low gear and was traveling about 18 miles an hour; plaintiff pushed the accelerator to the floor board, and the next thing he knew the accident happened; at the time of impact, plaintiffs ’ automobile had crossed the center line of Oxnard and lacked about 3% feet of being across the traffic lane in which the Warner automobile was traveling;. plaintiff did not sound his horn, swerve right or left, or apply his brakes prior to the accident; when the Warner automobile was about 30 feet from plaintiffs’ automobile, plaintiff Mrs. Johnson exclaimed that the car was going to hit them; he was already looking at the Warner automobile at that time, and he was doing his best to get out of the way; he did not attempt to stop because, in his estimation, it would have been more dangerous to try to stop than to try to get across, and he thought he could get across. He testified further that the impact caused the rear of plaintiffs’ automobile to swing about so that it was turned around; it then traveled about 45 feet south on Colfax where the rear of the automobile struck the front of a third automobile, a Chevrolet, which was traveling north on Colfax.

Plaintiff Mrs. Johnson testified that it was dark on the night of the accident, it was raining and she could see a glare of lights in the rain—it seemed to her that there were headlights and street lights; she first saw the glare when plaintiffs ’ automobile was stopped at the boulevard stop sign; the Warner automobile was then a block away; the next time she noticed the automobile it was about 20 feet from plaintiffs and she said: “We are going to get hit.”

Barnie Glazer, called as a witness by plaintiffs, testified that he was the driver of the Chevrolet automobile which was struck by plaintiffs’ automobile; at the time of the accident it was still light, his automobile headlights were not on and he saw no lights on the other automobiles involved in the accident; when he (witness) was about 150 feet from the intersection, he saw the other automobiles; it was a matter of seconds before the impact of said automobiles; plaintiffs’ automobile was going between 10 and 20 miles an hour, it was progressing slowly and did not appear to increase its speed before the impact; the Warner automobile was going approximately [601]*60140 miles an hour, it did not swerve and the brakes were not applied; after the impact he did not see plaintiffs’ automobile until a split second before it struck his Chevrolet.

Officer Jensen, called as a witness by defendants, testified that he investigated the accident and made a report, and that he talked to the witness Glazer at the scene of the accident. He testified that Glazer said: that as he was slowing down for a boulevard stop on Colfax, he saw an automobile southbound on Colfax and an automobile eastbound on Oxnard; the automobile on Oxnard was traveling at a high rate of speed; he was unable to estimate the speed of either automobile prior to the impact; he was unable to state whether plaintiff made a boulevard stop; the first time he saw plaintiffs ’ automobile it was in the intersection.

Officer Gough, called- as a witness by defendants, testified that he interviewed plaintiff at the scene of the accident and that plaintiff made substantially the following statement: He (plaintiff) had made a complete stop at the boulevard stop sign at the intersection of Oxnard, and shifted into low gear; there were no ears coming in either direction that he could see, so he started up; when he got across into the intersection he saw an eastbound car coming toward him very fast; he was unable to judge how fast the car was coming; it struck the rear of his automobile and that was all he knew about the accident.

Defendant Joanne Warner testified that she first observed plaintiffs’ automobile when it was about three car lengths back of the stop sign, at which time her automobile was also about three car lengths from the intersection; she was going about 30 miles an hour; after she saw plaintiffs’ automobile she looked to the right on Colfax, then ahead, and then plaintiffs were in front of her and she slammed on her brakes. It was stipulated that the testimony of a passenger in the Warner automobile would be substantially the same as the testimony of the last witness.

As above stated, appellants contend in effect that the evidence does not support the finding of contributory negligence. Whether plaintiff’s conduct under all the circumstances constituted contributory negligence was a question of fact for the trial court. There was evidence that it was dark, it was raining, the streets were wet, and lights caused a glare; that plaintiff (according to testimony of officer) saw no automobile on Oxnard before he entered the intersection, and the first time he saw the Warner automobile was after he was [602]*602in the intersection. That evidence was legally sufficient to support a finding of contributory negligence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 P.2d 124, 116 Cal. App. 2d 598, 1953 Cal. App. LEXIS 1107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-warner-calctapp-1953.