Jolman v. Alberts

158 N.W. 170, 192 Mich. 25, 1916 Mich. LEXIS 725
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJune 1, 1916
DocketDocket No. 46
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 158 N.W. 170 (Jolman v. Alberts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jolman v. Alberts, 158 N.W. 170, 192 Mich. 25, 1916 Mich. LEXIS 725 (Mich. 1916).

Opinion

Ostrander, J.

The testimony introduced on the part of the plaintiff tended to prove that plaintiff’s husband had driven his horse to the curb on a paved [27]*27street in the city of Muskegon; the buggy in which plaintiff was sitting being so close to the curb that she stepped into the buggy from the curb. Horse and buggy were headed south, and were on the west side of the street. It was about 9 o’clock in the evening, the nearest electric light was not burning, and the shade or shadow cast by nearby trees did not make discovery of the buggy on that account difficult. Defendant, going south on the street, ran his automobile against the buggy, and plaintiff was injured.

The court excluded from consideration two counts of the declaration, leaving one, the first, to be considered. In that count, it is alleged that defendant, riding in and driving an automobile along Peck, “a public street, * * * negligently and carelessly drove and guided said automobile so that it ran into a buggy standing on the west side of said street near the curb,” striking the buggy with such force as to break and crush it. It is contended, as it was when the cause was first before us (Jolman v. Alberts, 186 Mich. 643 [153 N. W. 11]); that this count states no cause of action. This contention we overruled, and the decision became and is the law of the case.

In his opening statement to the jury the attorney for plaintiff said, among other things, that a consequence of plaintiff’s injury was that for three years (she was injured in August, 1912) she has not been able to do her work; “to have her own enjoyment,\to go out in society as others go; to take care of her children as others do; to take her part in the family’s life. * * *99

Counsel for defendant, no testimony having been offered, asked the court to instruct the jury that:

“Under no circumstances are they to take into account whether or not Mrs. Jolman is less able to take care of her children than she was before. If she is less able to take care of her children and damages ac[28]*28crue, they don’t accrue to her, but to her husband, and he has an action pending now.”

The court declined to pass at that time upon the measure of damages, saying it was dependent entirely upon the proof that might be put in. There was an exception. The proof, so far as we are referred to it, was upon this subject given in answer to the question:

“What have you been able to do as to taking care of the children?”

The answer was:

“I haven’t done anything as far as taking care of— combing the children’s hair or helped them to dress, something of that sort.”

No objection to the question was interposed, or to the testimony. The argument made in the brief for appellant in this court proceeds no further than did the objection made at the trial. I cannot imagine how the ruling' excepted to prejudiced the appellant.

Plaintiff’s husband testified that defendant said, in substance, that he would’ pay for having the buggy or “the rig” repaired or fixed up. The court refused to strike out the testimony. The argument is that this statement could relate to no more than compromise, and it is against public policy to allow plaintiff to use it as an admission of liability. This statement, according to the testimony for plaintiff, was made almost immediately after the collision occurred. In the charge the court said the testimony was admitted as res gestae, to understand the transaction, and that the jury should give it such weight as they thought it was entitled to. It does not appear that appellant asked for any instruction upon the point. The exception must be overruled.

The headlights on defendant’s car were not burning; only some small kerosene lamps being lighted. Such lights as were burning could be seen for a considerable [29]*29distance, but did not appreciably light the road for the driver. Defendant was asked why he did not have his “big, lights” on. The objection made was that the fact called for was immaterial, and the objection was sustained. The court also excluded answers to the questions:

“Mr. Alberts, do you know whether it is customary for careful drivers and operators of automobiles in cities on city streets to use the large headlights at all?”
“Do you know, Mr. Alberts, whether or not it is the custom of careful drivers and operators of automobiles in the city of Muskegon when driving their machines upon the streets of this city to use large headlights?”
“Let me ask this question, Mr. Alberts: What can you say as to what the custom was of careful drivers and operators of automobiles in the city of Muskegon as to running their cars on the streets of .the city lighted as your car was lighted that night, the night of this accident?”

Later on, during the argument of counsel for plaintiff, the court ruled that the preponderance of testimony showed that the defendant carried lawful lights; that his car was lighted in conformity with law. As has been stated, he withdrew from the jury the count in which failure to light the car was alleged as negligence, and counsel, when the ruling above referred to was made, withdrew his argument upon the subject of the headlights. The various rulings are involved by appellant’s third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eleventh, and twenty-seventh assignments of error, and perhaps by others. When it is considered that the governing statute cannot be construed as requiring headlights on automobiles for the sole purpose of warning persons not in the car, but must be construed as requiring them for the purpose of lighting the way for some distance for the driver of the car (Harnau v. Haight, 189 Mich. 600 [155 N. W. 563]), it appears that the [30]*30rulings were either favorable to appellant or were correctly made. And these rulings and the exceptions based upon them are related closely to others, and to errors assigned upon the charge of the court. As has been stated, the appellant was a witness in his own behalf. He ascribes the collision to the fact that the lamps of an approaching automobile gave so intense a light that he could not well see objects in his path, and his testimony tends to prove that he was operating his car when and just before the collision occurred at a speed of but 4 or 5 miles an hour, and did not see the buggy until he was “within 8 or 10 or 12 feet of it”; that he did not intentionally strike it; that he thought he could go no further into the street without being struck by the approaching car, and supposed he could pass the buggy in which plaintiff was sitting. Witnesses for plaintiff testify that they saw appellant’s car approaching. 150 or 200 feet, running close to the curb.

It was a question for the jury whether, considering all of the facts as they found them to exist, appellant was prudent or' was careless in driving his car upon the buggy. And this ultimate fact was, I think, fairly submitted to the jury, and no error committed in the rulings complained about or in the charge upon this subject.

It appears that while plaintiff was in the hospital an X-ray picture was taken for the purpose of discovering whether her spine was injured — whether there was a dislocation of vertebrse. The picture was not produced at the trial. Counsel for appellant referred to it in argument, stating to the jury that:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
158 N.W. 170, 192 Mich. 25, 1916 Mich. LEXIS 725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jolman-v-alberts-mich-1916.