Opinion ID: 2161272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mrs Moritz's Negligence.

Text: The case was submitted to the jury on an ultimate-fact rather than a detailed form of special verdict as respondents desired. The trial court found, as a matter of law, that Erickson had operated his vehicle in a negligent manner prior to the accident. The trial court refused to find Mrs. Moritz negligent as a matter of law. Respondents contend that the court erred in failing to find appellant negligent as a matter of law in regard to lookout and turning. In Zeitlow v. Western Casualty & Surety Co. [1] this court rejected a claim that the trial court erred in not finding the plaintiff negligent as a matter of law, by saying: We do not agree with appellants that error was thus committed but, if there was, the error would be harmless, for the jury answered the question as appellants wished the court to answer it. And if the court had answered as appellants requested, the jury would still have to make the comparison of causal negligence between the parties. In the present case, it could not be said, after viewing the evidence as a whole, that Mrs. Moritz was negligent in any respect as a matter of law. However, it is not necessary to discuss the facts in detail because even if she was negligent, respondents were not harmed by the trial court's failure to so find since the jury ultimately found her 20 percent causally negligent.