Court Opinion

ID: 9546822
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:35:53.825384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:54.002566
License: Public Domain

WOLFE, Chief Justice
(concurring in the result).
I concur in the result on the ground that there is evidence from which the trial court *105■ sitting as the finder of the facts could have reasonably found the plaintiff guilty of actionable negligence bawing his recovery.
As to whether the trial court could have reasonably found the defendant free from negligence, a more difficult question is presented. It may be that in certain instances a driver must edge over the center of a two lane highway before he can determine whether he can safely pass a truck traveling ahead of him which is obstructing his view of the highway ahead. But in most instances it would seem that by allowing the truck to move a short distance further ahead, the driver’s angle of vision would be such that he could see the highway ahead without invading the other lane of traffic. However, in those few instances when it may be necessary to cross the center of the highway to ascertain whether it is safe to pass, it should be enough to edge over the center only slightly. Unless the bed of the truck ahead actually hung over the center of the highway, a driver seated against the left front door of his automobile could get a view of the highway ahead by edging out a very short distance.
In the instant case, according to the defendant’s own testimony, he did not merely edge slightly over the center of the highway. He swung his vehicle onto the other side of the highway six or seven feet and was in that position when he first saw the headlights on the plaintiff’s truck approaching him. He then proceeded to return to his own side of the highway, but was struck when he was still three feet over the center of the highway in the lane of traffic for vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. He testified his automobile was six feet wide and that it could have been entirely on his left side of the road when he first observed the plaintiff’s headlights. Thus it appears to me that the defendant actually invaded the other lane a considerable distance further than was necessary, making impossible his complete return to his own side of the highway when he observed the plaintiff approaching. But inasmuch as it is unnecessary to decide in this case whether the defendant’s conduct constituted negligence as a matter of law, I reserve my opinion on that matter.