Carlisle v. Hargreaves

Citations

• 112 Wash. 383
• 192 P. 894
• 1920 Wash. LEXIS 981

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations (380, 384, 390)—Use of Streets—Collision at Crossing—Failure to Sound Horn—Proximate Cause— Question for Jury. In an action by a passenger in an automobile in collision with defendant’s automobile at a street intersection, although the failure of defendant to sound his horn would not have prevented the collision in view of the knowledge of plaintiff’s driver of the approach of defendant’s car, yet it was for the jury to say whether or not such failure of .defendant to sound his horn was the proximate or contributing cause of plaintiff’s injury, where plaintiff did not see or know of the approach of defendant until the instant of the collision; since the court cannot say, as a matter of law, that a timely warning might not have enabled plaintiff to prevent, or at least lessened, her injury.</p> <p>Trial (121)—Misconduct of Jury—Quotient Verdict. A new trial will not be granted for misconduct of the jury in taking a quotient verdict, where the affidavits show that they did determine by that process what the average of the amounts each juror voted to award plaintiff would be, but that the ultimate amount awarded was not made in compliance with any previous agreement entered into between them upon their consideration of the case.</p> <p>Same (118)—Misconduct of Juror,—Communicating With Witness. The conduct of a juror in questioning a witness as to defendant’s nationality, and stating that another member of the jury thought she was German, during a recess of the court, while censurable, is not ground for a new trial in that it showed prejudice against the defendants, since it was probably prompted by no other motive than curiosity.</p> <p>Damages (80)-—Personal Injuries—Excessive Verdict. A verdict for $1,000 for injuries sustained in an automobile collision, though excessive if measured by plaintiff’s money loss incurred for medical attendance and for her loss of wages, will not be held excessive in view of severe injuries sustained, and pain