Lambie v. Tibbits, 12559.
| Decision Date | 14 May 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 12559.,12559. |
| Citation | 267 F.2d 902 |
| Parties | Marjorie LAMBIE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leroy TIBBITS and Herman Mutual Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellants, and Clinton Avery and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Robert E. Storck, Mayville, Wis., for appellants.
Frank D. Hamilton, Dodgeville, Wis., John T. Harrington, Madison, Wis., for appellees.
Before HASTINGS, PARKINSON and KNOCH, Circuit Judges.
This diversity action was brought by plaintiff-appellee, Marjorie Lambie, to recover damages for personal injuries and medical expense arising out of an automobile collision at a blind hill crest on a county gravel highway in Iowa County, Wisconsin. Plaintiff was riding as a guest in an automobile operated by defendant, Clinton Avery, which was insured by defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The Avery vehicle collided with an automobile driven by defendant, Leroy Tibbits, whose car was insured by defendant, Herman Mutual Insurance Company. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff finding both Avery and Tibbits causally negligent and judgment for plaintiff was rendered thereon, from which Tibbits and his insurance carrier alone have appealed. Avery died prior to trial from causes not arising from the collision.
By a special verdict the jury found Tibbits causally negligent as to speed but not negligent as to his position in the highway and as to management and control of his automobile and found Avery causally negligent as to his position in the highway and as to management and control of his vehicle but not negligent as to speed. The error relied upon arises out of the refusal of the trial court to grant a motion of Tibbits and Herman Mutual Insurance Company for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or, in the alternative, to change the answers in the special verdict as to the speed of Tibbits being a cause of the accident and for judgment thereon favorable to appellants.
The sole contested issue is whether there was credible evidence, with all the inferences that justifiably could be drawn from it, to constitute a sufficient basis for the special verdict of the jury finding that the speed of Tibbits was a cause of the collision and resulting injury and damage to plaintiff.
The accident occurred on May 23, 1955 about 7:30 o'clock in the evening at dusk. The country road was about 26 feet wide and ran generally in a north and south direction at the scene of the collision. Tibbits was traveling north about 50 miles per hour and Avery was going south about 40 miles per hour. Tibbits was familiar with the road and the blind hill crest. Tibbits was driving on his own right half of the highway and, because of the intervening hill crest, was unable to see the approaching Avery car until they were 60 to 100 feet apart and at that instant it was too late for Tibbits to stop or avoid a collision. At the same time Avery was ascending the north slope of the hill with plaintiff seated in the front seat beside him. Just before the collision Avery applied his brakes so that the tires of his car left skid marks on the surface of the road for a distance of 42 feet leading from the north up the hill to a point where the left front wheel of his car came to rest after the impact to the east of the center of the highway in Tibbits' lane of traffic. Tibbits' car left no tire marks on the road surface and at all times was in his own right hand lane of the highway. We need not further extend the statement of facts.
Questions raised by a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict are the same as...
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Rakovich v. Wade
...according to the same formulation: We must determine whether the evidence justifies submission of the case to the jury. Lambie v. Tibbits, 7 Cir., 1959, 267 F.2d 902, 903. Such a motion should be denied "where the evidence, along with all inferences to be reasonably drawn therefrom, when vi......
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Cosgrove v. Bartolotta
...of a motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b) for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. That is the standard way, all right. Lambie v. Tibbits, 267 F.2d 902, 903 (7th Cir. 1959); Greer v. United States, 408 F.2d 631, 635 (6th Cir.1969). And the only grounds for a Rule 59(e) motion, as the plaintiff ......
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Lawrence Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. v. Chrysler Corp., 71-1459.
...defendants thereon. Pinkowski v. Sherman Hotel, 7 Cir., 313 F.2d 190; Woods v. Geifman Food Stores, 7 Cir., 311 F.2d 711; Lambie v. Tibbits, 7 Cir., 267 F.2d 902. The statute under which plaintiff predicates liability in the defendants (15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1221-1225) gives an automobile dealer t......
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Hannigan v. Sears, Roebuck and Co.
...on counts 4 and 5 of plaintiffs' complaint, we apply the same standards since these motions raise similar questions. Lambie v. Tibbits, 7 Cir., 267 F.2d 902, 903 (1959); Shaw v. Edwards Hines Lumber Co., 7 Cir., 249 F.2d 434, 437 It is well established that a motion for a directed verdict o......