Miller v. Cincinnati Wholesale Grocery Co.

29 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 43, 1931 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1607
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County
DecidedOctober 16, 1931
StatusPublished

This text of 29 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 43 (Miller v. Cincinnati Wholesale Grocery Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Cincinnati Wholesale Grocery Co., 29 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 43, 1931 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1607 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1931).

Opinion

Darby, J.

The amended petition in this case alleged negligence on the part of both defendants, resulting in injury to the plaintiff. The defendant Minnie Frey filed her answer in the form of a general denial. The amended answer of The Cincinnati Wholesale Grocery Company, herein designated as “the Company” was filed and set forth the ordinances of Cincinnati following:

Section 74-101, entitled “City Manager’s Powers” provides :

“The City Manager is hereby authorized to adopt and install such traffic control devices, signs and safety platforms for the controlling, regulating, directing and moving of traffic and for designating any shopping zone, safety zone, berthing zone, parking space, taxicab stand, bus stop and any other place or stand upon the streets of the city of Cincinnati as the safety or welfare of the public may require.”

“Section 74-104. Disobeying Markers, etc. It shall be unlawful to drive or operate a vehicle in violation of the instructions or notices contained on any authorized sign, .marker or other device.”

“Section 74-106. Disregarding, Removing, Damaging. It shall be unlawful for any person to disregard, remove or damage any authorized traffic control device or sign, or any part thereof.”

[45]*45Then follows the allegation that Minnie Frey, in violation of the notices on the signs, etc., negligently and carelessly failed to stop her automobile, but drove the same at a high rate of speed into Sycamore Street, and struck the truck of the defendant The Cincinnati Wholesale Grocery Company. Further allegations are that she failed to grant the right of way to the defendant’s truck, in disregard of the instructions to stop upon said signs.

A motion was made to strike out all of the allegations above set forth, and same was submitted to the Court upon briefs of the parties and also brief of the City of Cincinnati coming into court as amicus curiae.

The gravity and importance of the question involved in this motion is such as that extended investigation has been made, and numerous authorities will be cited.

There are two phases to the question, involving the validity of the acts of the City Manager in adopting and installing traffic control devices, signs, etc.

In this case the question is raised as a matter of civil law involving the duties of those operating cars upon the street, as they are related to actions for negligence, but it must be kept in mind that if these acts of the City Manager are not warranted by law, and if the ordinance is unconstitutional, the criminal aspect of the matter will likewise fall, and chaos be the result.

The principal claim made on behalf of' the defendant Minnie Frey is that the ordinance conferring upon the City Manager authority to adopt and install such traffic control devices, signs, etc. is unconstitutional in that it is an attempted delegation to the City Manager of legislative authority. There is no claim that the local authorities have not power to establish traffic control devices, signs, etc., so that the question is as to the right of Council to confer authority upon the City Manager as set forth in the ordinance.

It must be kept in mind throughout this discussion that a valid ordinance of the city, Sec. 74-104 m'akes it an offense “to drive or operate a vehicle in violation of the instructions or notices contained on any authorized sign, marker or other device,” and also that by Sec. 74-106, it [46]*46is made unlawful “for any person to disregard * * * any authorized traffic control device or sign, or any part thereof.”

General Code, Sec. 6310-32 provides that—

“Local authorities shall have the right to designate by ordinance or resolution, additional main thoroughfares, and to designate what vehicles shall have the'right of way at intersections of main thoroughfares, provided however, that legible and appropriate signs be erected not nearer than one hundred (100) feet from the intersection along all roads and highways intersecting such main thoroughfares.”

This section recognized the authority in the municipality, among other things to designate main thoroughfares and to establish signs.

Sec. 6310-35 of the General Code contains very pertinent provisions relative to this discussion. As amended 112 O. L., 430, 433 that section provides as follows:

“Pedestrians and drivers of vehicles shall obey and abide by all signals, signs, whistles and directions of police officers and shall obey all automatic traffic signals.”

Minnie Frey relies upon two Ohio cases among others, to support her motion and argument that the authority conferred upon the City Manager is unconstitutional, and therefore the ordinance is invalid.

City of Cincinnati v. Cook, 107 O. S., 233, involves the question as to the validity of an ordinance making it unlawful for the driver of a vehicle to permit the same to stand in front of a railway passenger station between designated points, “unless the permission to stand has been granted by the person having the supervision over such passenger station.” The court held:

“Such ordinance is invalid because of the attempted delegation of legislative power, and for the reason that it is violative of the equal protection of the law guarantees of the state and federal constitutions.”

That case is readily distinguishable from the ordinance involved herein, in that the violation of the ordinance depended upon the whim of an individual, inviting discrim[47]*47ination and oppression. That ordinance is very different from a general ordinance conferring upon an adminisr trative branch of the Government authority to make rules or regulations for the enforcement or carrying out of the general ordinances of the city. In the judgment of this court therefore, that case must be limited in its effect to the particular facts, and does not control in a situation such as presented here.

In the -case of Albrecht Grocery Company v. Overfield, 32 O. A. R., 512, the question presented dealt with General Code, Section 6310-32 pertaining to the establishment of additional main thoroughfares, and marking them, and the court lays it down in that case that—

“In the absence of a municipal ordinance or resolution establishing main thoroughfares in addition to those created by law, and designating what vehicles shall have the right of way at intersections, the police department of a city does not have the power to make such designations and its attempt to do so by the placing of legible and appropriate signs at such intersections does not have any legal effect, and does not deprive the driver of a motor vehicle of the rights at such intersections given him by the general laws of the state.”

In the discussion of the case the court calls attention to an ordinance of the city of Akron, requiring drivers to stop upon signals from a police officer, but no reference is made in that case to Sec. 6310-35 above referred to, which makes it the duty of the driver to stop at such signals and requires operators to observe automatic signals, etc.

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Bluebook (online)
29 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 43, 1931 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-cincinnati-wholesale-grocery-co-ohctcomplhamilt-1931.