Magin v. Bemis

116 N.W.2d 129, 17 Wis. 2d 192
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJune 29, 1962
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 116 N.W.2d 129 (Magin v. Bemis) 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
Magin v. Bemis, 116 N.W.2d 129, 17 Wis. 2d 192 (Wis. 1962).

Opinion

Hallows, J.

The facts are in dispute and present two versions of the accident. According to Magin’s testimony, he was traveling east on West Mitchell street at 15 or 20 miles per hour, approaching South Fifty-Fourth street. When he was about 150 feet from the point of impact and after the traffic, which had been in front of him, had turned off the arterial to the right, he saw the Bemis automobile approaching at about 45 miles per hour from the north on South Fifty-Fourth street some 160 or 170 feet north of the point of impact. He kept the Bemis automobile in his vision continually and did not observe Bemis stop at the stop sign. When he realized Bemis was not going to stop and was going to continue through the intersection, he sounded his horn, applied his brakes and turned the motorcycle to the *195 right to avoid the accident, but the right front fender of the Bemis car struck the motorcycle. Magin was unseated and struck the automobile and landed on the pavement on his buttocks and back.

Bemis testified he came to a full stop at West Mitchell street, looked in both directions and as he started up slowly, saw no vehicles coming from either direction on West Mitchell street. He accelerated to a speed of 10 or 15 miles per hour through the intersection and when he reached a point where his driver’s seat was on or just past the center line of Mitchell street, he first observed Magin approaching from his right with a roar at a distance of 55 feet. Bemis testified he started up slowly because his vision was obscured to the right beyond mid-block because of the backup of cars from South Fifty-Fourth street. When Bemis saw the motorcycle, he turned his car to the left. He estimated the speed of the motorcycle at 40 to 50 miles per hour, and within a few seconds after first seeing the motorcycle the impact occurred, the motorcycle striking the car door. Bemis saw Magin turn his motorcycle to the right. He did not remember whether he accelerated or braked his car upon seeing Magin approaching.

Magin was taken to a hospital and found to have sustained three pelvic fractures. There was fragmentation of the bones and damage to the soft tissue in the pelvic area. Magin lost approximately four months of work. There is some dispute in the testimony concerning his recovery. There was some medical testimony to the effect he has had a complete recovery, but Magin claims he developed a limp and a disability which prevents him from normal exercise to keep down his weight. There was medical testimony that because of the fragmentation of the bones there would be more pain than from a fracture without fragmentation.

*196 Magin submits the evidence does not sustain the finding that he was negligent in respect to claiming the right-of-way; that Bemis as a matter of law was negligent in failing to yield the right-of-way and the damages were manifestly inadequate. One of the difficulties we have with the verdict is the answers cannot be rationalized on any consistent theory. In sustaining the verdict, the trial court in its memorandum opinion stated that in finding Bemis not. negligent as to yielding the right-of-way, the jury found Magin was such a distance away when Bemis entered the intersection that Magin could not have been within the term “approaching the intersection” at approximately the same time and, therefore, Magin would not have the right-of-way and there was no duty on the part of Bemis to yield. However, in finding Magin negligent in claiming the right-of-way, the trial court was of the view that under the instructions the jury found, in effect, that Magin was insisting on the right-of-way he otherwise might have had and, because the jury also found Magin was not negligent as to lookout or speed, he could have controlled the situation and avoided the collision had he not insisted on his right-of-way.

While no exception was taken, the inquiry is unusual in form and misleading in that it asked a question in terms of negligence in respect to claiming the right-of-way. The instructions were general and not keyed to particular inquiries. The jury was correctly instructed that while one may have the right-of-way and may presume others will respect it, he may nevertheless be negligent in respect to managment and control if his right-of-way is not respected and he does not do what he can do to prevent the accident. Other parts of the instructions were such as would lead the jury to believe this inquiry could apply to Magin if he were not approaching the intersection within the meaning of the right-of-way concept and yet was insisting on a right he did not have. The jury was also instructed in reference to both *197 subs. (1) and (4) of sec. 85.18, Stats. 1955, 1 which were in effect at the time of this accident in 1956. We do not see how sec. 85.18 (1) has any application to the facts of this case. West Mitchell street was an arterial and the right-of-way issue was governed solely by sec. 85.18 (4).

In the instant case, as Magin on the arterial was approaching from Bemis’ right, it was perhaps natural to instruct on both subs. (1) and (4) of sec. 85.18, Stats. 1955, especially in view of the language in Nessler v. Nowicki (1961), 12 Wis. (2d) 421, 107 N. W. (2d) 616. Stating that both subsections apply under the facts of that case was a harmless inadvertence and an oversight, as a determination of the right-of-way, as in this case, was governed solely by sec. 85.18 (4).

Prior to ch. 531, sec. 4, Laws of 1955, one approaching an arterial and stopping was then governed by the right-of-way rule provided in sec. 85.18 (1), Stats. 1955. Cases construing that section are no longer applicable to a sec. 85.18 (4), Stats. 1955, case and should be so distinguished. See, for e.g., Blom v. Kumbier (1957), 275 Wis. 227, 81 N. W. (2d) 528. After the amendment, one approaching an arterial had the duty to stop and yield, the right-of-way to the approaching operator on an arterial whether he was coming from the right or the left of the operator stopped on the nonarterial highway. This change in the statute granting the right-of-way to approaching traffic on the arterial was pointed out in Plog v. Zolper (1957), 1 Wis. (2d) 517, 85 *198 N. W. (2d) 492, not cited by the trial court or either party. In that case, this court said “approaching the intersection” as employed in sec. 85.18 (4) had a related meaning to the interpretation of the same term under sec. 85.18 (1) as given in Vogel v. Vetting (1953), 265 Wis. 19, 60 N. W. (2d) 399. The interpretation as applied to sec. 85.18 (4) must be in realistic terms and take note of the fact that the operator required to stop for the arterial highway is not approaching (he highway and has the duty to yield the right-of-way to one who is approaching on the arterial. Consequently, a vehicle oh an arterial highway may be said to be approaching an intersection when it is not so far distant therefrom that considering the rate of speed at which it is traveling, it would be reasonable to assume that a collision would occur if the vehicle stopped at the intersection on the nonarterial were to start in motion and move into the path of the vehicle on the arterial. 2

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Bluebook (online)
116 N.W.2d 129, 17 Wis. 2d 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/magin-v-bemis-wis-1962.