Satterland v. Fieber

• Decision Date: 15 August 1958
• Docket Number: No. 7695,7695
• Citation: 91 N.W.2d 623
• Parties: Florence SATTERLAND, a single woman, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Leo FIEBER, Defendant and Respondent.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 623

91 N.W.2d 623

Florence SATTERLAND, a single woman, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Leo FIEBER, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 7695.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Aug. 15, 1958.

Syllabus by the Court

1. A driver of a vehicle upon a through or arterial highway has a right to anticipate that the driver of a vehicle approaching the through highway, on an access road, will honor the 'stop sign' guarding the entry to the through highway and yield the right of way to the vehicle on the through highway.

2. Questions of negligence and probable cause are ordinarily for the jury and it is only where the evidence is such that reasonable men may draw but one conclusion therefrom that they become questions for the court.

3. Where a finding of negligence may be inferred from the evidence, the question becomes one for the court only in a case where the undisputed facts compel reasonable minds to accept the inference.

4. A passenger in a motor vehicle, in the absence of special circumstances, has no duty to maintain a lookout. His duty is to inform the driver of any danger of which he is aware.

Cox, Pearce & Engebretson, Bismarck, for appellant.

Lord & Ulmer, Mandan; Roy A. Ployhar, Valley City, for respondent.

BURKE, Judge.

In this action plaintiff sued for damages for injuries received by her while riding as a passenger in a car which collided with a car operated by the defendant. At the trial of the case, issues as to the negligence of the defendant, the negligence of the driver of the car in which the plaintiff was riding and the contributory negligence of the plaintiff were submitted to the jury. The jury returned a verdict for the dismissal of the action and judgment was entered accordingly. Thereafter plaintiff moved that the verdict of the jury be set aside, that the court order judgment in favor of the plaintiff upon the question of negligence and order a new trial upon the question of damages alone or in the alternative grant a new trial upon all issues.

Upon the motion for a new trial upon the question of damages alone, it is plaintiff's contention that the evidence in the case establishes, as a matter of law, that her injuries and damages were proximately caused by the negligence of the defendant and that there is no evidence in the record sufficient to warrant the jury in finding any contributory negligence on her part. On the other hand the defendant urges that the evidence does not warrant a finding of negligence on his part but establishes that plaintiff's damages were proximately caused by the negligence of the driver of the car in which plaintiff was a passenger and by plaintiff's own contributory negligence.

The collision which produced plaintiff's injuries occurred near the intersection of U. S. Highway 10 and an access road which leads from the Village of Dawson. Prior to the collision the car in which plaintiff was riding was proceeding in a northwesterly direction toward Highway 10 upon the access road. Highway 10 is a through or arterial highway. Mrs. Larson, the driver of the car, in which plaintiff was a passenger, testified that she stopped at the 'stop sign', located near the entry to Highway 10 and looked both ways for cars approaching the intersection. She saw no cars approaching from the east but saw defendant's vehicle approaching from the west at a distance which she estimated to be five or six blocks. She then entered the intersection, crossed to the north lane thereof and was proceeding in a westerly direction in the north lane of the highway when the defendant's car suddenly turned to the northeast, crossed the center line of the highway, entered the north lane thereof and collided with her car. In this testimony, Mrs. Larson is corroborated by the plaintiff and a second passenger.

The defendant's version of the events leading to the collision is in conflict with that of Mrs. Larson. He stated that he was proceeding eastward in the south lane of Highway 10 at a speed of 50 to 60 miles an hour. When he was about 300 feet west of the intersection he saw the Larson car entering the intersection. At that time it was on the south edge of the highway and moving slowly forward. He stated he assumed that the Larson car would stop and allow him to pass to the north of it and that he continued eastward for about 200 feet without applying his brakes. When he was about 100 feet away from the Larson car he realized that it was not going to stop and he turned to the northeast to pass to the north of it in the north lane of the highway and at the same time applied his brakes lightly. At a distance of about 50 feet from the Larson car, he saw that he was not going to be able to pass and applied his brakes with full force. The right front of his car struck the left front end of the Larson car. He stated that at the time of the collision the Larson car was headed in a northwesterly direction and that it was diagonally across the center line of the highway. When the cars came to rest after the collision defendant's car was headed slightly north of east with its left front wheel slightly in the ditch to the north of the highway and the other three wheels on the north shoulder of the highway. The Larson car was headed slightly east of north with its front wheels on the north shoulder and its rear wheels north of the center line of the highway. The point of impact, as shown by debris left on the highway, was 4 1/2 feet north of the center line. Extending from the point of impact, in the direction from which defendant's vehicle had approached, were 42 feet of heavy skid marks and 37 feet of light skid marks. The two lines of heavy skid marks were both in the north lane of the highway. There were no skid marks attributable to the Larson car. The main portion of the highway was 26 feet wide and there is a surfaced shoulder on each side 6 feet wide. The shoulders are safe for travel.

Defendant was travelling on a preferred highway and his testimony is that he expected that his preferred right would be honored by the driver of the Larson car, and that he acted on that expectation; that when he...