Smith v. Thornton

• Court: Utah Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: CROFT; CROCKETT; HENRIOD
• Citation: Smith v. Thornton, 458 P.2d 870, 23 Utah 2d 110 (Utah 1969)
• Decision Date: 23 September 1969
• Docket Number: No. 11422,11422
• Parties: d 110 Richard N. SMITH and Ida Smith, his wife, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. Ronald Eugene THORNTON, Defendant and Respondent.

Page 870

458 P.2d 870

23 Utah 2d 110

Richard N. SMITH and Ida Smith, his wife, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. Ronald Eugene THORNTON, Defendant and Respondent.

No. 11422.

Supreme Court of Utah.

Sept. 23, 1969.

James A. McIntosh, Salt Lake City, for appellants.

L. E. Midgley, Salt Lake City, for respondent.

CROFT, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of dismissal entered pursuant to the trial court's order granting, at the close of plaintiffs' evidence, defendant's motion for a directed verdict. We reverse and remand the case to the district court for a new trial.

Plaintiff, Richard N. Smith, sued to recover damages for injuries sustained by him when, as a destrian, he was struck by defendant's car while crossing North Temple Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. Plaintiff, Ida Smith, sued for loss of consortium allegedly resulting from her husband's injuries. The case was tried to a jury and at the conclusion of plaintiffs' evidence, defendant moved for a directed verdict upon the ground that, upon the facts established by the evidence, Richard was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. The trial court, concluding that reasonable minds could not differ on that issue, granted the motion. A judgment of dismissal was entered and counsel for plaintiffs moved the court to enter formal findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. That motion was denied.

By well-established rule, upon a motion for a directed verdict, the trial court is obliged to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom such motion is directed. Viewing the evidence in that light in favor of plaintiffs, the pertinent facts of the collision in question may be summarized as follows:

On November 20, 1963, Richard, accompanied by two companions, parked his car on the south side of North Temple Street at a point approximately 157 feet west of the west curb line of First West Street and proceeded to walk northward across North Temple Street, a four-lane highway. There was no crosswalk; it was nighttime; the weather was clear; and the road was dry. Before proceeding, Richard looked to the west and observed that no cars were approaching from that direction. They then began crossing the street and as Richard, who was leading, reached the center line of the street, he looked to the east to see whether cars were approaching from that direction. He saw car lights on the other side of the First West-North Temple intersection and observed the traffic light turn from green to yellow. He then turned his head to the west and looked back over his left shoulder toward his two companions, saw them in back of him, kept walking and proceeded across the center line of North Temple Street. As he stepped into the inside line for the westbound traffic, he momentarily saw the headlights on defendant's car and was immediately struck, suffering serious injuries in the resulting collision.

At the time of the collision defendant was enroute to his job at the Salt Lake Airport where he worked a shift from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. He was then driving his brother's 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, a cr which he drove only occasionally. His lights were on low beam and he was traveling on the inside lane. As he approached the First West intersection, the traffic light was green but turned yellow as the vehicle reached the east line of the east crosswalk of the intersection. Upon observing that the light had turned yellow, defendant accelerated the car to hasten through the intersection, increasing his speed by approximately five miles per hour. When he cleared the crosswalk on the west side of the intersection, he took his foot off the accelerator and, for the first time, saw plaintiff and his two companions walking across his lane of traffic. Upon seeing them, defendant immediatley applied his brakes and attempted to avoid them by endeavoring to turn to the right. He was unable to do so, striking Richard and one of his companions. On impact, Richard was thrown onto the engine hood and back into the windshield, breaking it. Defendant thereafter lost control of his car, when his foot slipped off the brake, and it careened first to the right, striking the curb, and then to the left, and was finally stopped about 350 feet west of the point of impact.

Measurements taken by investigating officers after the accident disclosed the point of impact to have been 156.6 feet west from the west curb line of First West Street. Defendant's car laid down 110 feet of skid marks, 44.6 feet prior to impact and 65.6 feet after impact. Plaintiff was found lying 107 feet from the point of impact.

The officer's report contained information to the effect that defendant estimated...