Erickson v. Washington-Oregon Corp.
Erickson v. Washington-Oregon Corp.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action for damages, alleged to have, resulted to the plaintiff, Louise Erickson, from the negligence of the defendant in digging and leaving in an unprotected and dangerous condition a hole in one of the public streets of the city of Chehalis, into which she fell while walking along the street. The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $6,000, from which the defendant has appealed.
Contention is made in behalf of appellant that the evidence conclusively shows that the operations performed upon Mrs. Erickson were necessitated by reason of her preexisting physical infirmities, especially by reason of a preexisting cystic
Some contention is made on behalf of appellant that the trial court should have held, as a matter of law, that appellant was not negligent, and that Mrs. Erickson’s own negligence caused her injuries. Both of these questions were for the jury.. We deem it unnecessary to review the evidence in detail here.
It is contended that the court committed prejudicial error against appellant in giving the following instruction:
“The court instructs the jury that any person or corporation who makes an excavation in a public highway or street and who carelessly and negligently fails to provide proper safe guards for the protection of the public passing along said highway or streets is liable in damages to any person injured by reason of such excavation, if such person had no*390 knowledge of the excavation and such person was, at the time of the injury, in the proper use of the highway or street.”
It is argued that the concluding words of this instruction are prejudicial to appellant in that the element of the proper care on the part of a traveler upon the public street is not suggested therein, leaving the inference that such care would not be required of a traveler under the circumstances supposed by the instruction. It seems to us this is fully answered by references to other portions of the instructions, where we find that the court fully instructed the jury that the duty of exercising proper care was upon Mrs. Erickson, while passing along the street. It seems clear to us that this instruction is not prejudicial, especially in the light of the other instructions.
It is contended that the verdict is excessive. While it does seem large, we cannot say, as a matter of law, that it exceeds the fair measure of Mrs. Erickson’s damages, in view of the expense incurred, her pain and suffering, and her impaired health. We think our views expressed in Shaw v. Seattle, 39 Wash. 590, 81 Pac. 1057, relied upon by counsel for appellant, do not call for reversal of this case on the ground of excessive verdict.
A review of this record convinces us that there is little else here involved than questions of fact. We do not feel called upon to discuss the cause further.
The judgment is affirmed.
Crow, C. J., Morris, Fullerton, and Mount, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- S. C. Erickson v. Washington-Oregon Corporation
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- Published
- Syllabus
- Damages — Personal Injuries — Proximate Cause — Evidence— Question for Jury. Where there was ample room for difference of opinion as to whether, and to what extent, operations were necessitated by a previous diseased condition, whether personal injuries or such diseased condition necessitated an operation was a question for the jury. Municipal Corporations — Streets —¡ Excavations — Liability— Actions — Instructions. An instruction that a person negligently leaving an excavation in a street without proper guards is liable in damages to any person injured thereby, if such person had no knowledge thereof and was in the proper use of the street, is not prejudicially erroneous, where the jury was fully instructed as to plaintiff’s duty to use due care. Damages — Personal Injuries — Excessive Verdict. A verdict for $6,000 for internal injuries sustained by a married woman 23 years of age, which necessitated operations for the removal of her ovaries, involving an expense of upwards of $1,000, and greatly impairing her health, is not excessive.