Ellis v. Robb

• Decision Date: 04 April 1951
• Docket Number: No. 47785,47785
• Citation: 47 N.W.2d 246,242 Iowa 875
• Parties: ELLIS v. ROBB.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 246

47 N.W.2d 246

242 Iowa 875

ELLIS v. ROBB.

No. 47785.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 4, 1951.

Rehearing Denied June 8, 1951.

Cory & Sackett, of Spencer, K. B. Welty, of Spirit Lake, Kimball, Peterson, Smith & Peterson, of Council Bluffs, for appellant.

Peter B. Narey, of Spirit Lake, Diamond & Jory, of Sheldon, James & Greer, of Spencer, for appellee.

WENNERSTRUM, Chief Justice.

Plaintiff's action for damages has resulted by reason of an accident which occurred in a fog and at which time plaintiff's automobile collided with the rear of defendant's truck. It had been stopped on the right-hand side of a paved highway for the purpose of inspecting and fixing the motor and lighting equipment. Defendant denied that he was in any was negligent and alleged that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. At the close of the plaintiff's evidence, and also at the close of all the evidence, the defendant moved for a directed verdict. These motions were overruled. Upon submission of the cause to the jury a verdict was returned in favor of the plaintiff. The defendant has appealed.

The accident occurred during the late evening of March 17, 1948 on a two-lane paved highway 18 feet wide with graveled shoulders which it is claimed were about 8 feet in width. The scene of the accident was approximately one-half mile north of Milford. The appellee had driven his Buick car from Storm Lake, having left that point at approximately 10:40 P.M. The route over which he had traveled was intermittently foggy. It is shown that the fog was somewhat more dense and occurred more often to the north of Milford than south of this community. The testimony of the witnesses shows that as appellee and others traveled north toward the point where the collision occurred, the fog was not of a steady nature, that there would be patches of fog and then a clearance of it and that the heavy conditions of fog occurred some distances apart. The fog, at times, seemed to be drifting and at the point of the collision it was quite heavy. The driver of the vehicle owned by the appellant was operating a combination tractor-trailer. It had a weight of approximately 35,000 pounds when loaded and an overall length of 43 feet. When this vehicle, which was proceeding north, was south of the town of Milford, it had mechanical trouble and mechanics were obtained to make repairs. At this point the truck was driven off the pavement and difficulties developed in getting it back onto the paved highway because of the soft shoulder. When the repairs had been completed the tractor-trailer proceeded north through the town of Milford to a point approximately one-half mile north of the town. Further mechanical trouble developed here and the tractor-trailer was stopped on the right-hand side of the paved highway. The automobile in which the mechanics were riding had been following the truck. Upon the stopping of the truck, this car was driven north and ahead of it some 15 feet. Lynn Foderberg, who was one of the mechanics in the car, got out and, hearing a car approaching from the south, ran to the south waving a flashlight in an effort to stop the approaching car. When he had reached a point about 50 to 60 feet south of the trailer, the oncoming car passed him. He observed that the brakes were on and estimated that the car, at that point, was traveling at a speed of approximately 50 miles per hour. A collision of this automobile, which was owned and driven by the appellee, with the rear end of the trailer occurred almost immediately. There is evidence of skid marks made by the Buick car 87 feet and 5 inches in length. The brakes on the truck had been set, but it was shoved forward about 15 feet and jammed into the mechanic's car. James Stevens, a mechanic who had accompanied Lynn Foderberg, was, at the time of the collision, in the act of raising the hood of the tractor. He was thrown approximately 23 feet from the point where he had been standing or working. No warning lights in the nature of flares or other signals had been placed on the shoulder or on the pavement. There is conflicting evidence whether or not there were any lights burning on the appellant's truck. There is evidence from which the jury could have found that the lights on the truck, if any, were not of the kind required by statute, Section 321.392(5), 1946 Code, I.C.A. The appellee, testifying in his own behalf, stated that as he proceeded north from Milford he was traveling at a rate of speed between 40 and 45 miles per hour and that the fog began to be heavy; that when he reached a point about 125 feet from where his car collided with the truck, he observed a small light on the pavement ahead of him; and that he put on his brakes and continued to observe the light until he passed it and then saw the truck on the pavement immediately ahead of his car. The collision then occurred, with the automobile going into and under the truck.

There are only two issues raised by this appeal. They are: (1) Was the trial court in error in submitting to the jury the appellant's contention that the appellee was guilty of contributory negligence, and (2) did the court commit an error in giving Instruction No. 17.

I. Inasmuch as it is the appellant's claim that the appellee was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law and that the motions for a directed verdict should have been sustained, it is first advisable to give consideration to the statute particularly involved. Section 321.285, 1946 Code, I.C.A., is, in part, as follows 'Speed restrictions. Any person driving a motor vehicle on a highway shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface and width of the highway and of any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than will permit him to bring it to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead, such driver having the right to assume, however, that all persons using said highway will observe the law.'

The quoted section has received the consideration of the legislature as well as of this court. The phrase, '* * *, such driver having the right to assume, however, that all persons using said highway will observe the law.' was added to the prior portion of the statute by the 46th General Assembly (1935) (46 G.A. Ch. 49, Sec. 1) and first appeared in the Code of 1935 as a part of Section 5029. Many of our cases frequently quoted and pertaining to this statute relate to factual situations that occurred prior to its change. Although this statute has general application in the instant case, it is well to consider the fact that there was evidence which was not controverted or, at least, was sufficiently presented so that the jury could have found that the appellant was not complying with the applicable law.

It is definitely shown that the appellant's truck was stopped on the right-hand side of a paved highway. Section 321.354, I.C.A., 1946 Code is as follows: 'Stopping on traveled way. Upon any highway outside of a business or residence district on person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the paved or improved or main traveled part of the highway when it is practical to stop, park, or so leave such vehicle off such part of said highway, but in every event a clear and unobstructed width of at least twenty feet of such part of the highway opposite such standing vehicle shall be left for the free passage of other vehicles and a clear view of such stopped vehicle be available from a distance of two hundred feet in each direction upon such highway'.

Section 321.355, 1946 Code, I.C.A., is also here applicable and is as follows: 'Disabled vehicle. Section 321.354 shall not apply to the driver of any vehicle which is disabled while on the paved or improved or main traveled portion of a highway in such manner and to such extent that it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving such disabled vehicle in such position.'

In the case at bar the appellee had the right to assume until he knew, or had an opportunity to know otherwise, that there would not be a truck illegally parked on the highway. It was for the jury to decide whether the truck was illegally parked on paving. Smith v. Pust, 232 Iowa 1194, 1197, 6 N.W.2d 315; Uhlenhopp v. Steege, 233 Iowa 368, 373, 7 N.W.2d 195. See also Prewitt v. Rutherford, 238 Iowa 1321, 1329, 30 N.W.2d 141, Tuhn v. Clark, Iowa, 41 N.W.2d 13, 15, 16.

In determining whether the appellee was, under the circumstances, guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law, we should keep in mind that this court, in considering questions somewhat similar to those here involved, has held that where a truck was illegally parked and blocking a highway, the question whether it was reasonably discernible in the exercise of ordinary care, whether the speed of an approaching car was reasonable or excessive under the circumstances, and whether from the time the driver of the approaching car discovered the truck he exercised ordinary care in an attempt to avoid a collision, were all questions for the jury. Knaus Truck Lines v. Commercial Freight Lines, 1947, 238 Iowa 1356, 1360, 29 N.W.2d 204.

If the appellee was exercising ordinary care as he came upon a truck which was not lighted as required by law, and there is evidence to that effect, and then exercises such care in endeavoring to avoid striking the truck, he is not negligent as a matter of law in colliding with it. The presence of the truck so unlighted and illegally parked furnishes a legal excuse to the motorist. Central States Elec. Co. v. McVay, 232 Iowa 469, 473, 5 N.W.2d 817; Uhlenhopp v. Steege, supra.

It is forcibly claimed by the appellant that because of the extreme heavy fog at or near the place of the accident, the appellee was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter...