McDonald v. Connecticut Co.
McDonald v. Connecticut Co.
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff brought this action to recover damages for the death of his decedent, alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendants. The plaintiff has appealed from a judgment rendered on a verdict which was directed for the defendants, assigning error in the denial of his motion to set aside the verdict.
In reviewing the ruling on the motion to set aside the verdict, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Peters v. Billick, 147 Conn. 699, 700, 166 A.2d 146. The jury could have found the following facts: Grand Avenue, a public highway in New Haven, runs generally in an easterly and westerly direction and is intersected by Olive Street, a public highway which runs generally in a northerly and southerly direction. Traffic control consists of a conventional overhead signal light which, when displaying a green signal for northbound and southbound traffic on Olive Street, is simultaneously displaying a red signal for eastbound and westbound traffic on Grand Avenue. There is a street light at the southwest corner of the intersection. On July 15, 1960, about 10 p.m., the defendant Roger A. Cruz, as the agent of the defendant Connecticut Company, was operating its bus northerly on Olive Street. The weather was clear, and the streets were dry. There was a bus stop on the easterly side of Olive Street south of Grand Avenue. The driver turned the bus toward the curb at the bus stop, saw no one waiting and,
As the bus driver left the bus stop, he drove forward toward the intersection in such a way that the front end of the bus was near the middle of Olive Street, with the rear end closer to the curb. To execute the turn to the east on Grand Avenue, it was necessary to make a wide swing and go to the left or north of the white center line on Grand Avenue. While the bus was waiting for the ambulance to pass, the driver did not look in the direction of the bus stop on Olive Street, nor did he look in that direction as he started the right turn into Grand Avenue. As he made his turn, the driver looked to the front and to his right, watching for traffic and people on Grand Avenue. He did not see the decedent at any time before the accident. The front door of the bus was on the right side of the bus and had glass panels running almost the entire length of the door. There were windows all around the bus, and the inside and outside lights were on at the time. An overhead inside mirror permitted the driver to see outside to the right of the bus.
A short time before the accident, the decedent
Although a directed verdict is not favored, it is justified if on the evidence the jury could not reasonably and legally reach any other conclusion than that embodied in the verdict as directed. Bader v. United Orthodox Synagogue, 148 Conn. 449, 455, 172 A.2d 192. The plaintiff claims that the operator of the bus failed to maintain a proper lookout. An operator of a motor vehicle is chargeable with notice of dangers of whose existence he could become aware by a reasonable exercise of his faculties. Palombizio v. Murphy, 146 Conn. 352, 357,
The plaintiff also claims that the driver violated General Statutes § 14-300, which gives to a pedestrian on a crosswalk the right of way over all vehicles. The statute gives the right of way to a pedestrian “started or starting” across the highway. When the accident occurred, the bus had nearly completed its turn. There was no evidence to show that the decedent was at or near the cross
The court did not err in directing the jury to return a verdict for the defendants. Robinson v. Southern New England Telephone Co., 140 Conn. 414, 420, 101 A.2d 491; Peters v. Billick, 147 Conn. 699, 702, 166 A.2d 146.
There is no error.
In this opinion Baldwin, C. J., and Murphy, J., concurred.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I cannot agree. The majority reaches its result by a particular interpretation of the evidence. The result would be correct if the interpretation was the only reasonable one. Our responsibility is to protect this plaintiff’s substantive right to have the evidence interpreted by a jury if the evidence is reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation. We are not reviewing an exercise of discretion by the trial court. The sole question is whether evidence was offered from which a reasonable difference of opinion could exist as to the issue of liability. I believe that the case contains such evidence.
The jury were entitled to believe the bus driver’s statement, “As I started my turn from Olive Street
In this opinion King, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Roderick McDonald, Administrator (Estate of Frederick G. McDonald) v. the Connecticut Company Et Al.
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published