Harder v. Matthews

• Citation: 67 Wash. 478,121 P. 983
• Parties: HARDER et al. v. MATTHEWS.
• Decision Date: 18 March 1912
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

121 P. 983

67 Wash. 478

HARDER et al. v. MATTHEWS.

Supreme Court of Washington

March 18, 1912

Department 2. Appeal from Superior Court, Spokane County; Henry L Kennan, Judge.

Action by Marie Harder and another against Aldridge A. Matthews. From a judgment dismissing the action, plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed.

Laughon Lavin & FitzGerald, for appellants.

Graves Kizer & Graves, for respondent.

MOUNT J.

Action for personal injuries. The trial court, at the close of the evidence for the plaintiff, directed a verdict for the defendant, upon the ground that the plaintiff Marie Harder was guilty of contributory negligence, on account of which she was injured. The action was therefore dismissed. Plaintiffs have appealed.

Mrs Harder was struck by an automobile which was being driven by the defendant. Just prior to her injury, she was walking along the sidewalk upon the north side of Sprague avenue in the city of Spokane. This avenue runs east and west. It is intersected at right angles by Madison street to the west and by Monroe street to the east. The distance between Madison and Monroe streets is about 600 feet on Sprague avenue. Mrs. Harder, on the evening of January 28, 1911, was walking east on the sidewalk on the north side of Sprague avenue. When she reached about the middle of the block between Madison and Monroe streets, she looked back and saw a street car coming east on Sprague avenue. The car stopped on the east side of Madison street. She desired to get on the car. She knew it would stop on the east side of Monroe street to take passengers there; and she knew that she would have to hurry to reach the south side of Sprague avenue and the east side of Monroe street, in order to catch the car. She attempted to cross Sprague avenue in a diagonal or southeasterly direction from a point about 150 feet west from Monroe street. Sprague avenue at that time, the witnesses say, 'was a busy street,' meaning that there were a number of vehicles of different kinds passing in each direction upon the street. The city ordinance required vehicles traveling west upon that street to keep to the north side of the street, while those traveling east were required to keep on the south side. When Mrs. Harder started to cross the street, she says she looked east and saw no vehicles coming. An express wagon was standing near the sidewalk curb on the north side. This express wagon was a short distance away from her. Boxes and trunks were being loaded upon it, and it obstructed her view of the street beyond to the eastward. When she came within a short distance of the express wagon, somewhere between 7 and 12 feet, she started diagonally across the street, looking toward the...