Wedecky v. Grimes
Wedecky v. Grimes
Opinion of the Court
On December 1, 1936, the day of the accident, defendant Grimes was engaged in hauling in his own truck timber one hundred inches in length from some woods in northern Lincoln county to a mill in the city of Tomahawk. Grimes had purchased the timber from one Miller, who agreed to help load and unload the truck. Plaintiff was an employee of Miller, and was engaged in cutting timber and helping in the loading process. About 10:30 a. m. of the day in question Grimes, Miller, and plaintiff completed loading the truck. Miller was tO' go to Tomahawk to help unload, and plaintiff was to remain in the woods and continue cutting. The road through the woods was a narrow logging road, and there was a hill to be climbed some distance from the point of loading. The truck was equipped with a cab with side windows and a platform seven feet wide with stakes in front and back. There were no side boards and the timber was piled crosswise on the platform extending on
The question is whether the evidence sustains the verdict. Both parties were found guilty of negligence with respect to lookout. We discover no evidence whatever that Grimes
With respect to Grimes’ want of control, his negligence must be predicated solely upon the fact that he should have realized the peril of plaintiff’s position and stopped the truck to insure plaintiff’s safety. The only ground upon which such a contention could be based is that plaintiff was standing within two feet of the wheel track, and that this was a position of obvious danger due to the character and width of the load. The difficulty of this contention is that plaintiff, knowing for some time that the truck was approaching and having plenty of time to select a position of safety, had deliberately selected this location, and defendant had a right to assume in the absence of clear indications to the contrary that the place had been selected with due regard to the width of the load. Even if this were not so, plaintiff’s negligence would clearly be as great as that of defendant. His judgment was equally faulty, and he did not discover its erroneous character until the cab of the truck had passed him. Thereafter defendant was powerless to see his peril or avoid the accident. There was nothing to prevent plaintiff from moving further from the road in time to- avoid all possibility of an accident. In view of this the judgment cannot stand.
By the Court. — Judgment reversed, and cause remanded with directions to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wedecky v. Grimes and another
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published