Gibson v. Gray Motor Co.
| Decision Date | 05 November 1920 |
| Docket Number | 21,902,21,903 |
| Citation | 179 N.W. 729,147 Minn. 134 |
| Parties | ROBERT GIBSON v. GRAY MOTOR COMPANY; ELIZABETH GIBSON v. GRAY MOTOR COMPANY |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Two actions in the district court for Hennepin county, one by the husband to recover $10,500 for injuries to his own person and for loss of services of his wife and medical attendance; the other by the wife to recover $50,000 for her own injuries. The facts are stated in the opinion. The answers set out the provisions of a city ordinance by which certain described limits within the city of Minneapolis became a portion of the congested district; that the place of the accident was within those limits; that the ordinance provided that pedestrians crossing any street at the intersection thereof with any other street should pass over such portion of the street as was included within the lines of the sidewalk projected and not diagonally; that plaintiff and his wife crossed the street at a place other than that provided, directly contributing to the accident. The cases were tried together before Bardwell, J., who at the close of the testimony denied defendant's motions for directed verdicts, and a jury which returned a verdict for $3,000 in favor of plaintiff husband and a verdict for $10,000 in favor of plaintiff wife. From an order denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdicts or for a new trial, defendant appealed. Affirmed.
Collision between pedestrian and automobile -- negligence -- questions for jury.
1. Whether defendant was guilty of negligence and whether plaintiffs were guilty of contributory negligence were both questions for the jury under the evidence.
Cross-examination of witness -- defendant protected by insurance.
2. Facts tending to show interest, bias or motive on the part of a witness may be elicited on cross-examination as bearing on the weight to be given his testimony, although such examination may necessarily disclose that the defendant in a personal injury action is protected by insurance.
Damages not excessive.
3. The rulings and charge were without error, and the verdicts are not excessive.
Cray & Eaton and A. C. Finney, for appellant.
F. D Larrabee, for respondents.
Robert Gibson and Elizabeth Gibson, husband and wife, passed the evening of Saturday, November 16, 1918, with friends in the Randolph Apartments, located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Hennepin avenue with Twelfth street in the city of Minneapolis. Late that night they started to return to their home located on Twelfth street a short distance east of Hennepin avenue. It had rained all the evening and was still raining. As they were crossing Hennepin avenue, both under one umbrella, they were struck by defendant's automobile. They sued separately for damages. The two actions were tried together before the same jury by consent, and resulted in verdicts for the respective plaintiffs. In both actions, defendant made a motion for judgment non obstante or for a new trial, and appealed from an order denying the motion.
Defendant contends that the evidence conclusively establishes contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiffs. A careful examination of the record satisfies us that the question whether the defendant was guilty of negligence, and the question whether the plaintiffs were guilty of contributory negligence, were both questions for the jury
The entrance to the Randolph Apartments is on Hennepin avenue 65 feet south of Twelfth street. Double street car tracks extend along the avenue. According to the testimony of the plaintiffs, they walked north along the sidewalk on the west side of Hennepin avenue to the crossing at Twelfth street and then turned east and started to cross Hennepin avenue. They saw the automobile coming from the north at a high rate of speed, and stopped four or five feet from the street-car track to permit it to pass. The automobile was traveling south along the west street-car track, with its left wheels between the rails...
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