McCoy v. Yellow Cab Co.

198 P.2d 371, 88 Cal. App. 2d 47, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1434
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 18, 1948
DocketCiv. No. 16342
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 198 P.2d 371 (McCoy v. Yellow Cab Co.) 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
McCoy v. Yellow Cab Co., 198 P.2d 371, 88 Cal. App. 2d 47, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1434 (Cal. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

YORK, P. J.

This is an appeal from an order granting the separate motions for new trial of defendants Yellow Cab Company and Allen Joseph Sitzer, the cab driver; and Clarence Furlong and Rose G. Furlong, after the jury had returned a verdict against them in the sum of $20,000 on account of personal injuries sustained by plaintiff on April 28, 1946, when a yellow cab in which she was a passenger collided with the automobile of the Furlongs.

In granting such motions the trial court commented as follows:

“The motion will be granted as to defendants Furlong. I remember the evidence very well and as to them, I do not think there was any evidence to support a verdict against them. Mr. Furlong sat a considerable time waiting to cross Beverly Boulevard; finally an opening presented itself. He was proceeding very slowly, was more than half way across the street. In other words, he was past the center line dividing the northern and southern half of Beverly, and he was struck by this taxicab. He had the right of way and he had no reason to believe he would be deprived of that right of [49]*49way. I cannot see any merit to it. The motion is granted as to Furlong.
“As to the Yellow Cab Company, the only question here, it seems to me, is the amount of damages.
“This plaintiff was a chiropractor and she had the evidence of one or two chiropractors and also one or two real doctors, and the evidence of the doctors who testified in her favor was dependent entirely upon her own statements, upon the subjective symptoms that she related to them.
“The doctors who examined her found nothing objective, nothing that they could put their finger on to find out what was wrong with her. The impression I received during the trial was she was seeking to pad her injuries to the greatest possible extent.
“Of course, these doctors who testified had a right to believe what she gave as a history of the case. I think they were misled by that history, and I think the woman was not hurt at all.
“The motion will be granted for a new trial as to defendant Yellow Cab Company, unless the plaintiff will agree to reduce the amount of the judgment based upon the verdict from twenty thousand dollars to three thousand dollars. Otherwise, the motion is granted.
“Counsel for plaintiff may have five (5) days from and after today to announce their willingness either to accept or their desire to reject the matter of reduction of the amount.
“Mr. Parker: And your Honor, I assume that order will be on the insufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict?
“The Court: Yes, it would have to be, because the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict as to twenty thousand dollars. I think the jury just went hog wild with somebody else’s money.
“Mr. Bodkin: Is the new trial granted as to the question of liability?
“The Court: As to all questions.
“Mr. Bodkin: The plaintiff will not accept the reduction.
“The Court: Then the motion will be granted as to the Yellow Cab Company on the grounds of insufficiency of the evidence and excessive damages.”

It is here urged by appellant that the trial court was guilty of an abuse of discretion when it granted the new trials.

The circumstances out of which the collision occurred are as follows: Clarence Furlong testified that driving a Buick sedan on Sunday evening, April 28, 1946, southerly on Beach-[50]*50wood Drive, he approached its intersection with Beverly Boulevard, where his passage was blocked by a double line of westbound traffic which was stalled by reason of a traffic light.at Larchmont; at the stop sign on Beeehwood he waited “probably three or four minutes”; that traveling very slowly he edged into the first line of cars on Beverly when someone in that line moved up a bit; that one car in the second line of traffic backed up a little to permit him to go on through; that he did not have to wait for the second line to open up; that as he came out of the second line near the center of Beverly he first saw the Yellow cab; that it was right in front of him; that as he crossed the street, he saw the reflection of lights coming from the west; “the light of an approaching headlight, whatever it might be” which appeared to be about 70 feet to the west; that he continued straight ahead “at a very slow speed thinking that the other vehicle would let me go on by.” That he did not sound his horn or use his brake just prior to the collision.

Respondent Sitzer, the driver of the Yellow cab, testified that on April 28, 1946, with appellant as a passenger, he was driving east on Beverly Boulevard in the traffic lane next to the double center line; that as he approached Beechwood Drive he observed no opening in the westbound traffic which was stalled at the intersection; that as he crossed the westerly curb line of Beeehwood, he first saw the headlights of the Furlong car coming from behind two stalled cars; that he. was driving approximately 25 miles per hour and the Furlong car was traveling at a speed of 10 to 15 miles per hour; that he was about 15 feet from the Furlong car when he first observed it; that he heard his brakes screech and skidded about 8 feet after the impact with the Furlong car; that when the two cars came to rest after the collision “the left front fender of the cab and the right front fender of the other car involved were locked together”; also that the “divider glass immediately behind the driver’s seat (of the Yellow cab) was shattered”; that he got out of the cab, “opened the rear door of the passenger compartment to find out if the passenger had been injured”; that he found her (appellant) seated on the floor with part of the seat down over her and her head in the vicinity of the shattered glass; that appellant appeared dazed and excited; that he asked her if she was hurt and she replied that she didn’t think so.

Appellant, a doctor of chiropractic, testified that at the time of the collision she was a passenger in the Yellow cab [51]*51and was on her way from Hollywood to the Good Samaritan Hospital to see a friend and patient; that she “was thrown with great force against the glass behind the driver, shattering the glass; and then with a terrific recoil in the bottom of the cab; and the large seat was thrown over my abdomen and the jump seat over my legs. ... I was dazed”; that Mr. Clark, representative of the Cab Company, took her to the Hollywood Receiving Hospital where she was examined; that she had blood on her left cheek, her lips were swollen and her legs bruised; that she did not believe at the time that she was seriously injured; that Mr. Clark drove her to the Good Samaritan Hospital, where she became ill, was in a dazed condition and felt nauseated; that Mr. Clark then took her home; that her brother who lived with her was not at home; that she felt dazed and was ill during the night; that she was not able to sleep and was not able to treat her patients on the following day; that the next day she was taken to the office of Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
198 P.2d 371, 88 Cal. App. 2d 47, 1948 Cal. App. LEXIS 1434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccoy-v-yellow-cab-co-calctapp-1948.