Rose v. Portland Traction Co.

346 P.2d 375, 341 P.2d 125, 219 Or. 1, 1959 Ore. LEXIS 448
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1959
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 346 P.2d 375 (Rose v. Portland Traction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rose v. Portland Traction Co., 346 P.2d 375, 341 P.2d 125, 219 Or. 1, 1959 Ore. LEXIS 448 (Or. 1959).

Opinions

MILLARD, J.

(Pro Tempore).

This is an appeal by defendant Portland Traction Company from a judgment rendered, pursuant to a jury verdict for $20,000 in favor of plaintiff, by the Circuit Court of Multnomah County in an action, based upon negligence, for damages for personal injuries in[4]*4curred in a collision between an automobile owned and operated by defendant Bessie Bose, in which plaintiff was riding as a guest passenger, and a bus owned and operated by defendant. Defendant Bessie Bose was charged with gross negligence, but, since plaintiff failed to prove as to her anything in excess of ordinary negligence, she was granted a nonsuit at the trial and, hence, hereafter when we refer to the defendant we will have reference to Portland Traction Company.

Defendant claims several assignments of error all having to do with failure to give certain instructions which would have removed from consideration of the jury certain charges of negligence, failure to grant in favor of defendant successive motions for nonsuit, for directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict based upon lack of substantial evidence in some particulars.

Each of the errors claimed requires us to view the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff with regard to each particular. The evidence discloses that the accident happened on the morning of November 9, 1953, near the southeast corner of the intersection of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest Hall Street in the city of Portland, on the east side of Southwest Sixth Avenue where there was a marked loading zone in front of a church located at the corner of the intersection. Southwest Sixth Avenue runs in a generally northerly and southerly direction and is 52 feet wide, and Southwest Hall Street runs easterly and westerly. Prior to the accident, defendant’s bus was proceeding north on Southwest Sixth Avenue followed by a car owned and operated by Bessie Bose, a relative of plaintiff, and in which car plaintiff was riding as a guest passenger in the front seat to the right of the driver. Bessie Bose had formerly been licensed to drive in another state but had only a learner’s permit to drive in Oregon. While [5]*5there was a conflict in the testimony, plaintiff’s evidence indicated that she did not know that Bessie Rose did not have a regular operator’s permit to drive.

Immediately prior to the collision, the loading zone, which was approximately 55 feet long according to plaintiff’s evidence, and 50 feet according to defendant’s testimony, and where parking was not allowed, was free of vehicles. While there was a conflict of testimony, plaintiff’s evidence indicated that there was adjoining an additional free space of 15 to 18 feet along the curb.

As defendant’s bus approached the intersection it pulled to the right into the loading zone at an angle so as to load and unload passengers, there being no attempt .to park parallel with the curb. Defendant’s driver testified that it was impossible to parallel park the bus, which was 35 feet long, without running into the intersection and backing up. There was evidence that regular bus loading zones in the city of Portland range from 60 to 80 feet. The bus driver admitted that the bus could have been driven directly up against the curb. At the time of impact the right front of the bus was from two to four feet [plaintiff said four feet] from the curb, and the left rear corner projected into the lane of traffic next to the center line of the street; and a car was coming from the opposite direction on its own side of said line but next to it.

Plaintiff called defendant Bessie Rose as an adverse witness, who testiifed in part concerning the accident as follows:

“Q When did you first observe the Portland Traction Company bus ?
“A Well, I noticed it was going along ahead of us, you know. We were just kind of going along there together, but it was a little ahead of me.
[6]*6“Q How far back from the scene of the accident would you approximate that, Mrs. Rose ?
“A Well, that is kind of hard for me to say, you know, but I figured around 50 foot anyway.
“Q Then would you describe what happened after you first observed the bus ?
“A Well, I just land of, you know, going along, land of watching my traffic, watching the bus and coming traffic to, you know, because, so just all at once the bus stopped right quick, and you know I had by foot on the brake. I had my foot on the brake all the time. I mean I just had it ready there to put on the brake, and so I noticed then the bus, the first thing I knew he just, he just like that just stopped. So Noami says, ‘Bessie, put your brake on,’ and I said, T have my foot on the brake,’ and so then I just mashed it down a little harder, you know, and then that time we hit. So the bus stopped so quick that I just didn’t have time to stop quick enough, just stopped too quick right in front of me.
“Q Did you observe any signal given by the bus driver?
“A No, I didn’t observe any whatever.
“Q Did you observe any movement of the bus ?
“A Yes, the bus was going, you know, up to that impact it was going right along ahead of me.
“Q Hp to the impact?
“A Then it stopped abruptly, you see, just right there. It all happened so quick.
“Q Did you notice any other movement of the bus outside of stopping?
“A No, I just noticed it just kind of turned a little bit, only it didn’t pull in beside the curb, just land of turned that way, you know.
“Q You say it didn’t pull inside the curb. Do you mean it went over towards the curb ?
“A No, it just turned like this (indicating), but this end still stuck out. I couldn’t see — I couldn’t go around.
[7]*7“Q But you noticed some movement towards the curb, is that right?
“A Well, it just kind of turned this way (indicating). I just saw that, I could still see the back of the bus right in front of me there. It didn’t move up beside the curb. It just kind of angled a little bit towards the curb.
“Q It just angled a little bit towards the curb?
“A Just like that, you know, just an angle (indicating).
“Q Did you make any attempt to steer your automobile to the left to go around the bus?
“A No, I was trying to stop. I was just — because I couldn’t go around.
“Q Why couldn’t you go around, Mrs. Rose?
“A Because I saw a car coming. There was a car — I was meeting, you know, on the other side— I mean I couldn’t go around on the left side.
# # #
“Q Were you driving close to the yellow line or some distance away from it?
“A Well, I figure just an average distance, just kind of in between, you know, on the left-hand side next to the yellow line, but I wasn’t over on the yellow line. I figure probably about, you know, half a foot or maybe a foot, somewhere like that.

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Bluebook (online)
346 P.2d 375, 341 P.2d 125, 219 Or. 1, 1959 Ore. LEXIS 448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rose-v-portland-traction-co-or-1959.