Knox v. Snow

• Decision Date: 17 April 1951
• Docket Number: No. 7530,7530
• Citation: 119 Utah 522,229 P.2d 874
• Parties: KNOX, v. SNOW et al.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 874

229 P.2d 874

119 Utah 522

KNOX, v. SNOW et al.

No. 7530.

Supreme Court of Utah.

April 17, 1951.

Gaylen S. Young, Salt Lake City, for appellant.

Dudley D. Crafts, Eldon A. Eliason, Delta, for respondents.

LATIMER, Justice.

Plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries received when he fell into a grease pit located in defendants' garage. At the conclusion of plaintiff's evidence the trial court granted defendants' motion for a nonsuit and entered a judgment dismissing the action. The basis of the court's ruling was that defendants were not negligent and that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. The scope of our review on appeal is well stated by Mr. Justice Wolfe in the case of Raymond v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 1948, 113 Utah 26, 191 P.2d 137, 138, on page 138, as follows: 'The judgment of nonsuit was based on the grounds that plaintiff had failed to prove negligence on the part of defendant, and further, that plaintiff's own evidence showed that as a matter of law he was guilty of contributory negligence. If the trial court was correct as to either of the two grounds for decision, the judgment must be affirmed. But in reviewing a judgment of nonsuit, we must view the evidence, and the reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. If, in any reasonable view of the evidence, a jury could find that defendant was guilty of negligence, and that plaintiff was free of contributory negligence, then the judgment must be reversed.'

On May 5, 1946, the date of the accident, defendants were operating a gasoline filling station and garage in Delta, Utah. The building in which their business was conducted faces south and is divided into two separate rooms. The eastern side of the building constitutes the office and sales room, where the public is normally received, while the adjoining service room on the west is used as a place in which customers' automobiles are washed, greased, serviced and repaired. The service room contains the standard equipment ordinarily found in a shop used for such purposes, including a wash rack, a hydraulic hoist, tools and tool racks, and a grease pit. The grease pit is situated about four or six feet in from the west wall with its long axis running north and south. It is located approximately 15 feet from the door which permits passage from the sales to the service room. The pit is approximately two feet eight inches wide, three feet deep and extends about twelve feet along the west wall, commencing a few feet south of the north wall. A raised cement border, four or five inches in height, and about six inches wide, parallels the east and west edges of the pit but stops a few feet south of the north side. The north end has no curb around it, but the absence of the border on that end did not contribute to the fall. On the day of the accident a ladder was in the grease pit and it leaned against the north rim of the pit, extending almost two feet above the level of the floor. On the west wall of the shop was a sign reading 'Employees Only.' A rack was situated on the north wall some ten feet above the floor of the service shop, and some tires and innerliners were on this rack. The rack is from sixteen to eighteen feet from the door which leads from the sales and display room into the service shop.

On the day of the accident, at approximately 9:00 a. m., plaintiff and one George Van Devanter went to defendants' service station for the purpose of purchasing a tire for plaintiff's car. They entered the office and salesroom located on the east side of the building. The defendant, Charlie Allen, was standing in the office and Mr. Van Devanter introduced plaintiff to him. Plaintiff asked Allen if he had a tire which plaintiff could purchase, and Allen replied that he did not have a tire, but might have an innerliner suitable for plaintiff's purposes. Plaintiff testified that while George Van Devanter and Allen continued conversing with each other regarding other matters, he looked through the door of the salesroom out into the repair shop; that he saw some tires on the rack at the far end of the shop; that among them was an innerliner which he thought would be suitable; and that, without any directions from Allen, he proceeded toward the tire rack.

After plaintiff left the office and salesroom he proceeded toward the rear of the service shop to look at the tires located upon the rack. As he walked across the shop he stepped over a hydraulic hoist, which extended about eight inches above the floor, and which was a few feet from the grease pit, and continued on toward the tire rack. Upon approaching the rack he stopped, his left foot resting on or near the rim of the pit. After standing there a moment, he shifted his weight from one foot to another, and in doing so, his left foot slipped, he lost his balance, and fell into the well. As he was falling, he noticed the ladder which extended up from the floor of the pit, and grabbed it. By grasping the ladder he kept himself from falling to the bottom of the pit, but caused the injuries to his arm for which he now...