Goodall v. Hess

• Decision Date: 21 May 1934
• Docket Number: 14
• Citation: 172 A. 693,315 Pa. 289
• Parties: Goodall v. Hess, Appellant
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

172 A. 693

315 Pa. 289

Goodall v. Hess, Appellant

No. 14

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

May 21, 1934

Argued May 1, 1934

Appeal, No. 14, Jan. T., 1935, by defendant, from judgment of C.P. Lackawanna Co., Sept. T., 1933, No. 910, in case of Elizabeth Goodall v. L. A. Hess. Judgment affirmed.

Trespass for death of plaintiff's husband. Before NEWCOMB, P.J.

The opinion of the Supreme Court states the facts.

Verdict and judgment for plaintiff for $4,323.40.

Error assigned, inter alia, was refusal of judgment n.o.v., quoting record.

The judgment is affirmed.

A. A Vosburg, of Vosburg & Vosburg, for appellant.

C. H Welles, 3d, of Welles, Mumford & Stark, for appellee.

Before SIMPSON, KEPHART, SCHAFFER, MAXEY, DREW and LINN, JJ.

OPINION

MR. JUSTICE SCHAFFER:

The main complaint of appellant, against whom a verdict and judgment were recovered in the court below for negligently causing the death of plaintiff's husband at a street crossing by running into him with an automobile which defendant owned and was operating, is that the evidence did not sufficiently "visualize" the accident and show the facts connected therewith. Our study of the record presents to our minds a sufficiently clear picture of what happened, which must have been even more distinct to the judge and jury who heard the witnesses and were familiar with the locality and its surroundings.

Roy M. McKune, a witness commended by both sides for candor and credibility, testified that on the night of February 24, 1933, between 7 and 8 o'clock, when it was dark, he was walking north on the west side of Sanderson Avenue in the City of Scranton approaching Green Ridge Street. The intersection of these streets is a busy one. He noticed the traffic lights were red for north and south movements on Sanderson Avenue. He saw the deceased standing on the north side of Green Ridge Street, at the curb, waiting for the traffic lights to turn in his favor so that he could cross. When the lights changed to green for north and south movements on Sanderson Avenue, the deceased started across the street. A car coming south on Sanderson Avenue moved behind him and turned right or west on Green Ridge Street. The witness then saw defendant's car coming from the south on Sanderson Avenue and turn left or west toward the deceased, which under the traffic regulations it had the right to do, and heard the impact of the car as it struck the deceased, but did not see the actual collision. He testified that the speed of the car was from fifteen to eighteen miles an hour, which is substantially the speed which defendant himself admitted. He noticed that the deceased had walked a sufficient distance over the crossing to permit the passing of the first car behind him. The witness observed no car other than defendant's proceeding on Sanderson Avenue. He said defendant's car after it struck the deceased stopped on the cross-walk very suddenly, that after the impact it did not move more than five or six feet and that it was near the middle of the street.

Defendant testified that when the light turned green he made a left turn, that there was what he termed a "blind spot" to his left caused by a post in his car, and that he did not see anything until his wife uttered an exclamation, that he then saw the deceased "come out from this dark spot on the car and with the lights and things on the windshield I slammed on the brakes." He said there was a car facing him with very bright lights which interfered with his vision. He stated that, when he first saw the deceased, the latter was within two or three feet of his bumper. After the impact he was lying in the street about six feet ahead of it. Defendant attributed his failure to see the man as he was walking over the crossing to the blind spot and to the effect of the lights from a car coming in the opposite direction. He admitted the crossing was a busy one.

Defendant's wife, who was with him in the car, testified that when the signal light changed to green, her husband made a left turn and she observed the deceased walking across the street, that he was not...