Ruth v. Vroom

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: FEAD
• Citation: Ruth v. Vroom, 245 Mich. 88, 222 N.W. 155 (Mich. 1928)
• Decision Date: 04 December 1928
• Docket Number: No. 136.,136.
• Parties: RUTH v. VROOM et al.

245 Mich. 88

222 N.W. 155

RUTH

v.VROOM et al.

No. 136.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

Dec. 4, 1928.

Error to Circuit Court, Calhoun County; Walter H. North, Judge.

Action by Nettie Ruth against Henry Vroom and another, trading and doing business as Henry Vroom & Son, and another. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiff brings error. Affirmed.

Argued before the Entire Bench, except NORTH, J.

John F. Henigan, of Jackson, for appellant.

C. C. Coulter, of Detroit, and James Cleary of Battle Creek, for appellees.

FEAD, C. J.

[1] Between 2 and 3 o'clock a. m., October 13, 1924, a Maxwell touring car, driven by Fay White, and in which plaintiff was riding, crashed into a trailer attached to a Federal truck owned by defendants Vroom, and plaintiff was severely injured. She had verdict against both defendants in action for damages. Judgment for defendants notwithstanding verdict was entered by the court on reserved motion, on the ground of White's contributory negligence, imputable to plaintiff. Plaintiff has brought error, and the testimony most favorable to her must be accepted.

White, plaintiff, two other men, two other women, and three children drove from Jackson to Detroit Sunday evening, October 12, arriving about 10 o'clock p. m. They started on the return trip after 11 o'clock, the two men riding in the front seat with White and the three women in the back seat, holding the children on their laps. They went through Ann Arbor about 2 o'clock, and the accident occurred some eight miles west.

The Federal truck, with two trailers, facing west, was standing on the pavement on the right side. The truck was under a tree. The east trailer had no rear lights and was slanted somewhat so its east end touched or crossed the center line of the highway. The lights on the truck and other trailer could not be seen from the east.

It was a clear night, quite light. White approached from the east at a speed of 30 miles per hour. When 400 or 500 feet east of the truck, he came to the crest of a grade sloping slightly down toward the west. He then saw the headlights of a Reo Speedwagon, owned by defendant Hall, either standing or coming from the west. White dimmed his lights, reduced his speed to 15 or 20 miles per hour, and continued at that rate until he put on his emergency brake to avoid a collision. At that speed he could have stopped his car in 15 feet. He could see about 50 feet ahead of the car with his lights dimmed. The Reo lights bothered him some, but not enough that he could not have stopped within the range of his vision. He drove to a point distant from the truck, according to various estimates of White, 15, 30, 40, 50, or 66 feet. At that point the Reo lights, which had a defective lens, blinded him, causing what he termed a ‘black spot’ in which he could not see ahead. He ran some 10 feet in the black spot. At some time therein, when he realized he could not see, he applied the emergency brake, ran out of the black spot, and saw the trailer 12 feet away. At that time the Reo wagon had just passed the trailer by 3 or 4 feet, and White steered his car to the left for the opening. His car skidded about 12 feet. He struck the rear left side of the trailer.

It is settled in this state that it is negligence as a matter of law to drive an automobile at night at such speed that it cannot be stopped within the distance that objects can be seen ahead of it; and, if a driver's vision is obscured by the lights of an approaching car, it is his duty to slacken speed and have his car under such control that he can stop immediately if necessary. Budnick v. Peterson, 215 Mich. 678, 184 N. W. 493;Spencer v. Taylor, 219 Mich. 110, 188 N. W. 461;Gleason v. Lowe, 232 Mich. 300, 205 N. W. 199;Holsaple v. Superintendents of Poor of Menominee County, 232 Mich. 603, 206 N. W. 529;Lett v. Summerfield & Hecht, 239 Mich. 699, 214 N. W. 939.

Plaintiff contends that White, in being blinded by the Reo lights...