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Bockla v. Hart

Court of Appeals of Colorado, First Division
Sep 19, 1972
501 P.2d 1345 (Colo. App. 1972)

Opinion

         Sept. 19, 1972.

         Editorial Note:

         This case has been marked 'not for publication' by the court.

Page 1346

         James B. Radetsky, Paul D. Renner, Denver, for plaintiffs-appellants.


         Yegge, Hall & Evans, Eugene O. Daniels, Denver, for defendant-appellee.

         PIERCE, Judge.

         Plaintiffs, Ben and Irene Bockla, filed suit against defendant, William Roy Hart, alleging that Hart's negligent operation of a motor vehicle, proximately caused an accident between the parties at the intersection of 20th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, in Edgewater, Colorado.

         Acting on a motion for directed verdict at the close of the evidence, the trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain a verdict in plaintiffs' favor. Issues raised in counterclaims filed by Hart and his mother were settled by stipulation during trial, and judgment was entered thereon. The only issue before us on appeal is the dismissal of Bocklas' complaint.

         The paramount question is whether there was sufficient evidence presented to warrant submitting the issue of Hart's liability to the jury. In examining the evidence, we must view it in the light most favorable to the Bocklas. CeBuzz, Inc. v. Sniderman, 171 Colo. 246, 466 P.2d 457. We conclude that it was error for the trial court to direct a verdict against the Bocklas.

         Ben Bockla testified that, prior to the accident, he was driving north on Sheridan Boulevard, and, as he approached the intersection of Sheridan and 20th Avenue, he directed his vehicle into the left turn lane. He turned on his left turn signal, proceeded north into the intersection on a green light, and then stopped in the center of the intersection, still facing north on the east side of the center lane. While he was stopped in this position, the light turned amber, and he allowed two cars traveling from north to south Sheridan to pass through the intersection. He looked to the north and saw the Hart vehicle, proceeding south, 'quite a ways' north of the intersection, later indicated by him on a diagram to be a distance of approximately 140 feet. He then testified that, because he believed there was ample time for him to make his left turn, he commenced the turn, looking only to the west. It was his assumption that the light controlling north-south travel had, by that time, turned red. He proceeded west at no more than 12 miles per hour and was struck broadside by the Hart vehicle at a point approximately on the dividing line between the two southbound lanes of Sheridan.

         One witness testified that the Hart vehicle may have been going as fast as 40 miles per hour. Other testimony indicated that no skid marks were left by either vehicle.

         Among the Edgewater City Ordinances admitted into evidence were those pertaining to a 35 mile per hour speed limit for Sheridan Boulevard, and regulating the right-of-way for vehicles turning left at intersections. The latter grants a right-of-way to parties making left turns after they have yielded to all oncoming traffic which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

502.1 'SPEED LAWS APPLICABLE. (a) The City Council shall regulate the speed of vehicles by adoption by motion therefor, a schedule of speed permitted within certain zones within the City of Edgewater, and such schedule shall be applicable upon all streets within this municipality. It shall be prima facie unlawful for any person to drive a vehicle at a speed in excess of any speed so declared in the schedule stated above, when signs are in place giving notice thereof. (Schedule for Sheridan Boulevard: 35 miles per hour.)'

501.2 'VEHICLES TURNING LEFT AT INTERSECTION. The driver of a vehicle within an intersection intending to turn to the left shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard, but said driver, having so yielded and having given a signal when and as required by Sections 504.1, 8, and 9 of this ordinance may make such left turn and the drivers of all other vehicles approaching the intersection from said opposite direction shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle making the left turn.'

         I.

         The law in Colorado with regard to directed verdicts is stated in Nettrour v. J. C. Penney Co., 146 Colo. 150, 360 P.2d 964, where the Supreme Court said:

'A motion for directed verdict can only be granted where the evidence . . . compels the conclusion that the minds of reasonable men could not be in disagreement and that no evidence . . . has been received . . . upon which a jury's verdict against the moving party could be sustained.'

         Here, had the facts, as stated by Ben Bockla, been believed by the jury, and the applicable ordinances considered, reasonable men could conclude that Bockla had the right-of-way at the time of the collision, and that the sole proximate cause of the damages allegedly suffered by the Bocklas was Hart's negligence in violating the duties imposed by one or more of the ordinances placed into evidence. The issue of negligence should have been submitted to the jury and not determined as a matter of law. See Bates v. Stagg, 157 Colo. 456, 404 P.2d 530 and Lasnetske v. Parres, 148 Colo. 71, 365 P.2d 250.

         II.

         Bocklas also complain that the court erred in ruling that negligence of Ben Bockla was imputable to his wife, Irene. Our search of the record reveals no such ruling by the trial court. The dismissal was made solely on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a verdict in favor of either of the Bocklas, as against Hart.

         Judgment reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.

         COYTE and SMITH, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Bockla v. Hart

Court of Appeals of Colorado, First Division
Sep 19, 1972
501 P.2d 1345 (Colo. App. 1972)
Case details for

Bockla v. Hart

Case Details

Full title:Bockla v. Hart

Court:Court of Appeals of Colorado, First Division

Date published: Sep 19, 1972

Citations

501 P.2d 1345 (Colo. App. 1972)