McCullough v. St. Louis Public Serv. Co., 23461.

• Decision Date: 08 October 1935
• Docket Number: No. 23461.,23461.
• Citation: 86 S.W.2d 334
• Parties: McCULLOUGH v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERV. CO.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

86 S.W.2d 334

McCULLOUGH v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERV. CO.

No. 23461.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

October 8, 1935.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Robt. W. Hall, Judge.

"Not to be published in State Reports."

Action by Mrs. Ora McCullough against the St. Louis Public Service Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

Reversed and remanded.

T. E. Francis and R. E. Blodgett, both of St. Louis, for appellant.

S. R. Redmond, of St. Louis, for respondent.

BENNICK, Commissioner.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff, Ora McCullough, when she, while standing upon the sidewalk at the northeast corner of Market street and Vandeventer avenue in the city of St. Louis at the regular stopping point for northbound Vandeventer busses of the St. Louis Public Service Company, was struck by a Ford automobile truck driven by one Ed Sisson and alleged to have been crowded over upon the sidewalk when one of the St. Louis Public Service Company's north-bound busses cut over towards the curb immediately in front of it. Originally, both Sisson and the St. Louis Public Service Company were joined as defendants to the action, but at the opening of the trial plaintiff dismissed as to defendant Sisson. Thereafter the case proceeded against defendant St. Louis Public Service Company alone, resulting in a verdict for plaintiff, and against such defendant, in the sum of $500. Judgment was rendered accordingly; and defendant's appeal to this court has followed in the usual course.

There was no controversy about the fact that the accident happened in the general manner as described above, the dispute going solely to the question of whose negligence was responsible for the occurrence.

Plaintiff's own testimony was that she first saw both the bus and the truck as they came underneath the railroad overpass crossing Vandeventer avenue just south of its intersection with Market street; that the truck was to the right of the bus, with its front end a little distance back of the front of the bus; that the bus was running faster than the truck; and that just as the bus neared the stopping point at the northeast corner of the intersection, its driver cut it over towards the curb in front of the truck, forcing the truck up upon the sidewalk where it struck plaintiff, knocking her down, and injuring her in a manner not at issue on this appeal.

Other evidence for plaintiff was that before the two vehicles came to the railroad overpass the truck was running at a speed of about twenty miles an hour and the bus at a speed of from twenty-five to thirty miles an hour; that both vehicles continued on across Market street without slowing down or stopping for the crossing; that the front of the truck was about three feet back of the front of the bus; and that when the bus driver cut sharply over to the right, the truck was forced across the curb and upon the sidewalk so as to avoid a collision with the bus.

Defendant's evidence was to the effect that the bus was running at a speed of from eight to fifteen miles an hour as it approached the stopping point on the north side of Market street; that the driver of the truck attempted to get past the bus on its right before it was brought to a stop; but that realizing that he would be unable to do so, he turned his truck across the curb upon the sidewalk and ran with his two right wheels along the sidewalk for about forty feet, knocking plaintiff down, and continuing on until his truck ran into an iron post supporting a stop sign, the force of the impact being sufficient to bend the post over at an angle with the sidewalk.

The driver of the bus testified that just before he started to pull over to make his stop, while his bus was still about four feet out from the curb, he glanced in his rearview mirror and noticed the truck at that moment going over the curb. He at once brought his bus to a stop and had it at a standstill when the truck struck plaintiff, the rear of the truck, after the accident, being about...