Luckkart v. Director General of Railroads
Luckkart v. Director General of Railroads
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs appeal from a judgment of nonsuit in their action to recover damages on account of personal injuries. Construing the testimony in the light most favprable to them, it is shown that their accident occurred in the following manner: The depot of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, in the city of Toppenish, is reached from the city by means of a driveway located on the railway company’s private right of way, which driveway was laid out and is maintained by the railway company. Within the right of way and in front of the depot, is located a small park on one side of the driveway, and the freight depot on the other side. Where the driveway goes between the freight depot and the park it is more than one hundred feet in width. The space between the depot and the park and freight depot is open and used exclusively for a roadway. In about the center of that portion of the driveway located between the freight depot and the park was a large electric light pole, placed there long ago by the defendant Pacific Power & Light Company, upon which wires were strung which conveyed all the electric light used at the depot. The pole was about 55 feet from the park, 75 feet from the freight house, and about 90 feet from the depot. The plaintiffs are farmers and reside within two or three miles of Toppenish.
In August, 1919, very early in the morning, plaintiffs brought their daughter with them in their automobile to the depot that she might take a train leaving there about three o’clock a. m. At that time it was dark, and there were no lights of any character on the electric light pole, or in its immediate vicinity, nor was the private driveway in any manner lighted. Having put their daughter aboard the train, they again entered their automobile, which was immediately in front of the depot, for the purpose of returning to their home. Mr. Luckkart was driving, and his wife was in
. Mr. Luckkart testified' that he did not see the pole before striking it, and that he could not have seen it because his car was approaching it on a curve to the left, and that his lights would not be thrown upon it. It seems clear to us, however, that the physical facts conclusively show that the driver of the automobile could have seen the pole in time to have avoided the collision. One important fact stands out, and that is that it was the right front spring of the automobile which hit the pole. Since the car was turning to the left, it must follow that, at some time before the collision, the lights must have shone fully on the pole, and during that period it was directly in front of the car. Such being the facts, we must conclusively presume that the driver of the car could have seen the pole in time to have avoided the accident. But the fact that he could have seen it was not sufficient to nonsuit him. To justify that action we must be able to say that, not only could he have seen the pole, but that had he used reasonable care, under all the circumstances, he 'would have seen it in time to have avoided hitting it. The only question, therefore, is whe
The judgment is affirmed.
Parker, O. J., Mackintosh, and Holcomb, JJ., concur.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting)—The driveway mentioned in the majority opinion was opened by the railway company as a means of approach to its depot, and any member of the general public was invited to use it when upon lawful business with the railway company. The electric light pole mentioned stood in the middle of this highway, and was at all times a menace
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William Luckkart v. Director General of Railroads
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Municipal Corporations (383, 391)—Streets—Automobiles— Contributory Negligence—Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action for damages for personal • injuries, plaintiffs Were properly nonsuited, where the evidence showed their injuries resulted from driving their automobile in the nighttime into a light pole, set in the middle of a space devoted to traffic and which at the time was unlighted, and it appears plaintiffs were familiar with the surroundings, that, in making a turn and driving slowly in low gear which would enable them to stop within a couple of feet, the car was driven into the pole, the presence of which should have been noted by a careful driver as his front lights swept across it in making the turn (Fullerton, J., dissenting).