Lind v. Thomas

401 A.2d 830, 265 Pa. Super. 121, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2040
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 12, 1979
DocketNo. 323
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 401 A.2d 830 (Lind v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lind v. Thomas, 401 A.2d 830, 265 Pa. Super. 121, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2040 (Pa. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

SPAETH, Judge:

This appeal arises from a two car collision. It is filed by passengers who were riding in one of the cars.

The collision occurred at the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and Grand Avenue in Aliquippa. Kennedy Boulevard is a four-lane highway that runs in a generally east-west direction. Grand Avenue is a two-lane highway that runs in a generally north-south direction. Appellee, Matthew Thomas, was struck as he was negotiating a left turn from Kennedy Boulevard onto Grand Avenue, by a car driven by Mary Jo Lind. Appellants are Mrs. Lind’s children, and were passengers in her car. After the accident, Thomas sued Mrs. Lind, Mrs. Lind sued Thomas, and appellants (by their mother) also sued Thomas.1 The actions were consolidated and were tried by a jury, which returned verdicts in favor of Thomas in both Mrs. Lind’s suit against him, and appellant’s suit against him, and in favor of Mrs. Lind in Thomas’s suit against her, in other words, verdicts that denied any recovery for anyone involved in the accident. A post-verdict motion was filed in which appellant, and Mrs. Lind requested new trials. The lower court, sitting en banc, denied the motion. Mrs. Lind has not appealed from this denial, but her children have, claiming that the [124]*124jury’s verdict against them was against the weight of the evidence.2

Our cases hold that “[w]here a verdict is so greatly against the weight of the evidence as to be a shock to the judicial conscience, a court has not only the right but the duty to disagree with the jury and to overturn its verdict no matter how many trials need be had in the interest of justice . . .” Denman v. Rhodes, 206 Pa.Super. 457, 460, 214 A.2d 274, 275 (1965). See also Micozzi v. Klysh, 207 Pa.Super. 77, 215 A.2d 263 (1965). “[I]n passing upon the question whether a verdict is against the weight of the evidence, the court is not required to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner . . .. It is of course true “that the assaying of the credibility of witnesses and the resolving of conflicts in their testimony are for the jury. But it is equally true that the trial judge may not hide behind the jury’s verdict; he has a duty to grant a new trial when he is convinced that the judicial process has resulted in the working of an injustice upon any of the parties . . . .” Denman v. Rhodes, supra, 206 Pa. Super, at 459, 214 A.2d at 275 (1965) (citations omitted). See also Pritts v. Wigle, 414 Pa. 309, 311, 200 A.2d 386, 387 (1964).

It is undisputed that appellants, as children riding in their mother’s car, were free of contributory negligence. Thus, in order for the denial of any recovery for appellants to be lawful, the jury had to find that Thomas was not negligent.

The testimony established that the accident occurred at 3:44 p. m. on June 22, 1972. It had rained earlier in the day and was drizzling at the time of the accident. However, no one has asserted that the weather was a substantial factor in causing the accident. Thomas testified that he was driving in the eastbound passing lane on Kennedy Boulevard, and that when he reached its intersection with Grand Avenue, he stopped two car lengths before the traffic light controlling his lane of traffic, with his left turn signal flashing. He then described how he made his left turn, as follows: He [125]*125had a green light to proceed, but nevertheless stopped because he knew that the traffic lights controlling the westbound traffic on Kennedy Boulevard were also green at the time. N.T. 9 — 10. He looked to the westbound lanes and saw that cars were lined up in the westbound passing land, waiting to turn south into Grand Avenue. He looked to the end of this line and observed that no cars were pulling over into the westbound curb lane to proceed straight through the intersection. He then looked to the westbound curb lane, but could see no further than three or four car lengths into the lane because his view was obstructed by the cars in the westbound passing lane. Seeing no cars in the curb lane, he proceeded to make his left turn without again looking for cars. He was already across the westbound curb lane when he first observed Mrs. Lind’s car, two or three car lengths away, proceeding in the curb lane straight through the intersection. A moment later, the front portion of the right side of his car was struck by the right side of Mrs. Lind’s car. At the time of the accident, he was traveling approximately five miles per hour, and Mrs. Lind was traveling approximately thirty-five to forty miles per hour, which was within the legal speed limit.

Thus, Thomas’s own testimony shows that when he was hit, he was attempting to execute a left turn across a through lane of traffic before he had assured himself that the way was clear. The fact that he had a green light to make the turn did not give him authority to proceed into the intersection without regard to other traffic. Fowler v. Smith, 217 Pa.Super. 244, 247-48, 269 A.2d 340, 341-342 (1970); Cericola v. Redmon, 182 Pa.Super. 19, 23, 124 A.2d 417, 419 (1956); Jordan v. Kennedy, 180 Pa.Super. 593, 597, 119 A.2d 679, 681 (1956). Even where a motorist has the right-of-way through an intersection, he “must take such precautions in regard to the control and speed of his car and keeping an alert lookout for cars approaching the intersection as a reasonably prudent man solicitous of his own safety would take. . . . ” Enfield v. Stout, 400 Pa. 6, 12, 161 A.2d 22, 25 (1960). See also Lewis v. Quinn, 376 Pa. 109, 101 [126]*126A.2d 382 (1954); Dayen v. Penn Bus Co., 363 Pa. 176, 69 A.2d 151 (1949); Kline v. Kachmar, 360 Pa. 396, 399-400, 61 A.2d 825, 827-828 (1948). “This principle is in no way relaxed because the intersection may be an unusual one or may involve a complex traffic problem. Such a situation would demand a higher degree of vigilance on the part of those crossing or about to cross such an intersection.” Rea v. Pittsburgh Railways Co., 344 Pa. 421, 425, 25 A.2d 730, 732 (1942).

In the present case, Thomas was familiar with the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and Grand Avenue. He knew when he was making his turn that he was crossing a lane of traffic that had a green through signal, and thus knew that he did not have the right-of-way across the intersection. Under these circumstances, it was imperative that he enter the intersection carefully, see Boehm v. Heston, 325 Pa. 89, 189 A.2d 298 (1937), and because his view of the oncoming traffic was partially obstructed at the point where he stopped and looked, that he continue to look for traffic as he crossed. Helfrich v. Brown, 213 Pa.Super. 463, 249 A.2d 778 (1968). Thomas did not continue to look, and consequently was negligent as a matter of law. Helfrich v. Brown, supra; see also Leasure v. Heller, 436 Pa. 108, 258 A.2d 855 (1969).

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Bluebook (online)
401 A.2d 830, 265 Pa. Super. 121, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2040, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lind-v-thomas-pasuperct-1979.