Wentworth Bus Lines v. Sanborn

• Decision Date: 04 May 1954
• Citation: 104 A.2d 392,99 N.H. 5
• Parties: WENTWORTH BUS LINES, Inc. v. SANBORN.
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

Page 392

104 A.2d 392

99 N.H. 5

WENTWORTH BUS LINES, Inc. v. SANBORN.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Argued Feb. 2, 1954.

Decided April 21, 1954.

Rehearing Denied May 4, 1954.

Burns, Calderwood & Bryant and Robert E. Hinchey, Dover, for plaintiff.

Charles F. Hartnett, Dover, for defendant.

LAMPRON, Justice.

It could be found on the evidence that the defendant followed the bus for about a mile and a half before the accident at a distance of 30 feet in back of it as testified to by her or that she was 'somewhere around two or three hundred feet' in back when the driver started to slow down the bus as he testified. They both had been proceeding at a speed of about 25 miles per hour. On the rear of the bus there were two clearance lights, two stop lights and two taillights in operation at the time of the accident. There were also two red reflectors which showed up when a light was shined toward them. A third reflector required by R.L. c. 119, § 10 was missing and the two reflectors present may or may not have been placed in such a manner as to indicate the extreme width of the vehicle and load as required by § 8.

Defendant had no difficulty seeing the bus during the mile and a half she drove behind it. The night was clear, the visibility good and the road dry. There was a street light on the opposite side of the road within 25 feet of the scene of the accident.

Upon receiving a signal from someone on the side of the road about 200 or 300 feet ahead, the bus driver 'naturally slowed down by taking my foot off the gas and letting the bus slow down by itself * * * Then when I got one hundred fifty to two hundred feet from him [prospective passenger] I worked the brake to bring it to a gradual stop.' Every time he touched the brake pedal the stop lights went on. When he was within 50 or 60 feet of the passenger he put the light on inside the bus. All of the other lights previously described were also in operation. He pulled off the paved portion of the highway so that his right-hand wheels were at least 2 feet from it. The road was 23 feet wide at the scene of the accident. When he had brought the bus to a stop 'the blow came from the rear.'

A statutory violation by the plaintiff which was not causal of the accident is immaterial to the issue of responsibility. Fontaine v. Charas, 87 N.H. 424, 426, 181 A. 417; Rouleau v. Blotner, 84 N.H. 539, 152 A. 916; Bellemere v. Ford, 94 N.H. 38, 42, 45 A.2d 882; cf. Sweeney v. Willette, 97 N.H. 330, 332, 87 A.2d 858. There was ample evidence to support the Trial Court's finding that the negligence of the defendant was the sole cause of the accident. Jirkovsky v. Elfman, 323 Ill.App. 282, 55 N.E.2d 288; 4 (Pt. 2) Blashfield, Automobile Law and Practice (Perm.Ed.) 131. Defendant's motions for nonsuit and directed verdict and her request No. 1 that the Court enter a finding for her as a matter of law were properly denied.

Defendant's requests Nos. 3 to 8 inclusive asked for detailed findings pertaining to the compliance of plaintiff's bus with the statutory requirements as to rear lights and reflectors and the effect of any noncompliance. R.L. c. 370, § 13. 'The party invoking the statute is entitled to have the facts found separately and with such fullness and detail as to enable him to fairly test the correctness of the legal conclusions. * * * A record made upon the statutory request is presumed to contain all the proven facts which the court deemed material and essential to his decision so as to present the question whether the judgment is a necessary conclusion therefrom.' Town of Tilton v. Sharpe, 84 N.H. 393, 396, 151 A. 452, 453.

There was ample evidence that the bus was equipped with all the statutory lights. It had two clearance lights, two stop lights and two taillights. It also had two of the required three statutory reflectors but there was some question as to whether or not the two reflectors present complied with R.L. c. 119, § 8 as to their location on the rear of the bus.

It is probable from the findings made by the Trial Court that he considered the plaintiff free from causal fault in the operation or the equipment of the bus and that the accident resulted exclusively from defendant's negligence. New Hampshire Savings Bank v. National Rockland Bank, 93 N.H. 326, 328, 41 A.2d 760; Chabot v. Shiner, 95 N.H. 252, 255, 61 A.2d 791. 'The operator * * * brought the bus to a reasonably gradual stop, and all lights on the rear of the bus were functioning * * *. The negligence of the defendant * * * was the sole cause of the accident, and * * * the accident was a result of her negligent failure to apply her brakes in time to prevent a collision.'

The findings and rulings of the Trial Court should contain 'all the proven facts [on liability] which the court deemed material and essential to his decision so as to present the question whether the judgment is a necessary conclusion therefrom.' Tilton v. Sharpe, supra. Because of the basis given for his decision the Trial Court presumably considered immaterial and nonessential findings of the presence or lack of the required statutory lights and reflectors and the effect of any violation. However, instead of denying the defendant...