Welch v. Auseth, 22292.

• Decision Date: 13 May 1930
• Docket Number: 22292.
• Citation: 156 Wash. 652,287 P. 899
• Parties: WELCH v. AUSETH.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

287 P. 899

156 Wash. 652

WELCH v. AUSETH.

No. 22292.

Supreme Court of Washington

May 13, 1930

Department 2.

Appeal from Superior Court, Snohomish County; Guy C. Alston, Judge.

Action by Carletta Welch, as Administratrix of the Estate of Henry D. Welch, deceased, against O. M. Auseth. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Joseph H. Smith, of Everett, for appellant.

A. E Dailey, of Everett, for respondent.

MAIN J.

This action was brought by the administratrix of the estate of Henry D. Welch, deceased, claiming that his death was caused by the negligence of the defendants. The trial resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $1,500. The defendants moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial, both of which were overruled, and from the judgment entered upon the verdict defendant, O. M Auseth, appeals.

The appellant, O. M. Auseth, and Mrs. R. F. Jones were engaged in the undertaking business in the city of Everett, under the firm name of the Auseth Funeral Home. On or about October 12 1927, in the course of their business they conducted a funeral in Whatcom county, some distance to the north of the city of Everett. Mr. Auseth drove the hearse to the funeral and returned, and Mr. Welch, the deceased, rode with him therein as a guest. In the evening as they were returning, at about 6:30 p. m., the accident which caused the death of Mr. Welch occurred at a right angle turn in the highway a short distance south of the city of Arlington. The road was paved. It was raining lightly at the time and the pavement was wet and slippery. About three hundred feet to the north of the turn was a warning sign. The turn was not exactly a right angle turn but had a slight curve, and was described by Mr. Auseth as a 'bad corner.' The hearse, as it rounded the curve, left the pavement and turned over. As the hearse approached the turn there was proceeding from the west toward the same corner a Chevrolet automobile driven by Peter Boivin. He saw the hearse approaching the turn and, believing that it was traveling too fast to round the corner, turned the automobile which he was driving to the right off the pavement, and was in the act of stopping when the front end of the Chevrolet collided with the top of the cab of the hearse. Whether the hearse fell on the radiator of the Chevrolet, or whether the Chevrolet, just before it stopped, ran into the top of the cab is not exactly clear and is not material. Mr. Welch was in the cab with Mr. Auseth and sustained the injuries from which he died.

There was evidence from which the jury had a right to infer that the hearse approached the curve at a...