Drake v. Rusconi
Drake v. Rusconi
Opinion of the Court
This is an action for damages arising from a collision between a bicycle on which the minor plaintiff was riding and an automobile owned by Alfred Rusconi and driven by his wife.
This action, which followed, was tried by the court without a jury. The court found in all respects in favor of the plaintiffs and the defendants have appealed from the judgment.
The appellants first contend that there is no evidence to support the court’s finding of negligence upon the part of the driver of the automobile. While the evidence is sharply conflicting, there is evidence that Mrs. Rusconi was driving through this blind intersection at from 30 to 35 miles an hour. This evidence is attacked as unsubstantial and unbelievable in view of the alleged physical fact thát the automobile stopped within 15 feet. This in turn depends upon the uncertainness to which we have already referred and the entire matter presents but a question of fact. The evidence, in its entirety, justifies an inference that Mrs. Rusconi was traveling too fast at the point in question. Moreover, the evidence amply justifies the inference and conclusion that Mrs. Rusconi was looking in another direction, that she was not keeping a proper lookout for traffic in the direction from which it was to be expected, and that she could have seen the minor plaintiff in time to avoid the accident had she been properly observing conditions in the line of her travel.
It is next contended that it must be held, as a matter of law, that the minor plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence. This is based upon the contention that it conclusively appears that the accident occurred near the northerly edge of the northwest quadrant of this intersection, that the minor plaintiff was at the time riding her bicycle across this quadrant in a northeasterly direction, and that she was
Nothing more here appears than a conflict in the evidence and there being sufficient evidence to support the court’s findings the usual rule applies.
The judgment is affirmed.
Marks, J., and Griffin, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied March 25,1942.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.