Jaeger v. Salentine

• Decision Date: 01 June 1920
• Parties: JAEGER v. SALENTINE ET AL.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

171 Wis. 632

177 N.W. 886

JAEGER

v.SALENTINE ET AL.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

June 1, 1920.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Milwaukee County; John J. Gregory, Judge.

Action by Helen Jaeger against Christ Salentine and another. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.

Action for damages resulting from an automobile collision. The evidence shows that Christ Salentine lives with his family on a farm near the city of Waukesha. On December 5, 1918, his daughter, who was a nurse in a Milwaukee hospital, was at home on a visit. Christ Salentine knew that she was home only for the day and that she must return that evening. He owned an auto which had been purchased for family use. He knew that his son would take Celia in the car either to Milwaukee or to Calhoun, where she could take the train to Milwaukee. Christ, the father, testified that Peter, the son, sometimes took the daughters out in the machine and drove them to different places and that he had done that frequently; that he had driven his mother and sisters around frequently; that, when they wanted to go anywhere, they simply went, and that was the end of it; and that he never made any objection. Peter, the son, testified that he had frequently taken different members of the family around prior to the date of the collision; that he was the only one on the farm that could safely operate the car; that on the evening in question he took his sister Celia to Milwaukee, because she asked him to, and that his sister Ameela rode with them; that Celia was a nurse in a Milwaukee hospital; came home about 2 in the afternoon; and that she had to return before 10 that night. The evidence shows that the Salentine car was being driven along Scott street in the city of Milwaukee, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth avenues, at a high rate of speed; that a wagon was being unloaded at the south curb on Scott street, which projected into the street some 10 feet. The Salentinecar was obliged to go around this wagon, and in so doing got well out towards the center and probably on the wrong side of the street, and at a point about 118 feet from the wagon the Salentine car collided with the plaintiff's car on the north side of the street, where plaintiff's car was lawfully traveling, inflicting personal injuries upon the plaintiff.

The jury by its special verdict found Peter Salentine guilty of negligence in the management of the car which proximately contributed to the injury, absolved the...