Denison v. Manwarren
Denison v. Manwarren
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action for damages to plaintiff’s car and for personal injuries sustained by him in an automobile collision alleged to have resulted from defendant’s negligence. Defendant’s general demurrer to plaintiff’s petition was overruled. He has appealed from that ruling and contends the petition shows on its face that plaintiff is barred from recovery because of his own negligence, which contributed to the injuries.
So far as is pertinent here, the allegations of the petition may be summarized as follows: About 7:30 p. m. on September 12, 1938, plaintiff was driving his automobile in a careful and prudent manner and at a speed of about thirty-five miles per hour on the right-hand side of state highway No. 14 at a point about a mile and a half southwest of Hazelton; that defendant owned two trucks, then being operated by his two employees, who were named. These trucks had been driven in the same direction along the same highway, but were stopped, one directly behind the other, on the right-
In this court appellant concedes, for the purpose of his argument, that defendant was negligent, but argues that the allegations of the petition make it clear that plaintiff also was negligent in a manner which contributed to his injury and damage. We think the point is not well taken. It is well settled that contributory negligence is a defense. It is also well settled that ordinarily it is a jury question. The correctness of these propositions is conceded. Appellant correctly argues that a petition may show the negligence of the plaintiff so clearly that reasonable minds could not differ concerning it, and in such case the question is one of law. We think the allegations of the petition do not bring this case within that rule.
Appellant cites the authorities holding that one traveling in an automobile on the highway at night should travel at such speed and have sufficient control of his automobile that he can see objects in time to stop within the range of his lights, and where the condition of the road, or the weather, or traffic, are unusual in any particular, he should use such care under the circumstances as a reasonably prudent man would do, and if he fails to do so that he is guilty of contributory negligence. The rule contended for by appellant is not as broad nor as universally applicable as appellant argues it to be. In Meneley v, Montgomery, 145 Kan. 109, 64 P. 2d 550, the cases were classified and those cited where the rulé had been applied and
Appellant stresses the allegations of the petition to the effect that as plaintiff approached these standing trucks, without knowing them to be there, he was partly blinded by the lights of an oncoming car, and argues that under those facts it was the duty of plaintiff to stop, if necessary, rather than to proceed without being able to see objects distinctly the full distance ahead of him that his lights ordinarily would show him. Standing alone, that would not be sufficient, as a question of law, to establish negligence of plaintiff which would prevent his recovery. (Witte v. Hutchins, 135 Kan. 776, 12 P. 2d 724; Conwill v. Fairmount Creamery Co., 136 Kan. 861, 18 P. 2d 193; Long v. American Employers Ins. Co., 148 Kan. 520, 83 P. 2d 674, and the recent case of Central Surety & Ins. Corporation v. Murphy, 103 F. 2d 117, which action arose in this state.)
There was no error in the ruling of the trial court and the judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.