Podziewski v. Gaumond

• Decision Date: 08 April 1938
• Citation: Podziewski v. Gaumond, 124 Conn. 157, 198 A. 569 (Conn. 1938)
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: PODZIEWSKI v. GAUMOND et al.

198 A. 569

124 Conn. 157

PODZIEWSKI v. GAUMOND et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

April 8, 1938

Appeal from Superior Court, New London County; Earnest C. Simpson Judge.

Action by Elva Podziewski against Francois Gaumond and others for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendants.The case was tried to the court.Judgment for plaintiff against named defendant only and he and plaintiff appeal.

No error.

Arthur T. Keefe, of New London, for appellant Gaumond.

Charles V. James, Thomas J. Kelly, and Arthur M Brown, all of Norwich, for appellant Podziewski.

Harrison D. Schofield, of Hartford, for appellees Niederman and others.

Argued before MALTBLE, C.J., and HINMAN, AVERY, BROWN, and JENNINGS, JJ.

BROWN Judge.

The plaintiff sued to recover for personal injuries sustained while riding in a trolley car in consequence of the collision of the defendant Niederman's truck with the defendant Gaumond's Packard sedan and the trolley, and from a judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant Gaumond only, he and the plaintiff have appealed.The accident occurred when the Packard, passing in a southerly direction to the east of a Plymouth coupé parked on the west side of the street, hit the left side of the truck going northerly and deflected it to the east against the right front corner of the southbound trolley car.The conclusion of the trial court, that the negligence of the operator of the Packard was the sole proximate cause of the injuries to the plaintiff, was supported by the subordinate facts, which cannot be corrected in any way material to this appeal.The substantial claim of the appellants is that the defendant Wiese, as driver of the defendant Niederman's truck and his agent, was negligent in continuing northerly as he did when he saw the parked Plymouth car, and the trolley and the Packard approaching from the north, and should have anticipated that the insufficient space for the truck and the Packard to pass between the Plymouth and the trolley might be closed by the oncoming Packard.

The collision occurred in broad daylight on a clear dry day.The road was straight and level for 500 feet in each direction from the point of impact and there was no traffic in the highway except for the vehicles mentioned.Wiese knew the space between the Plymouth and trolley was insufficient for the truck and Packard to pass through it in safety.The truck at all times kept on its right side of the traveled highway and was proceeding at 25 miles an hour about 3 or 4 feet to the west of the more westerly trolley rail when it reached a point 30 feet south of the Plymouth, and the trolley was then 50 or 60 feet north of the truck.The Packard at the time was proceeding southerly at from 30 to 40 miles an hour and...