BURT JOHN MASON, APPELLANT,
v.
ANNA REMICK, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In this negligence case arising from a traffic collision, the court reversed a summary judgment entered against the plaintiff and held that questions of negligence and negligent causation must go to a jury even when evidence is undisputed, because conflicting reasonable inferences may be drawn from the facts.
Summary judgment was error. Although plaintiff failed to look, he was traveling on a through street with the right of way and had the right to assume that defendant would obey the traffic ordinance. Questions of negligence and negligent causation are peculiarly questions of fact for the jury, and must be permitted to go to the jury when conflicting reasonable inferences may be drawn from admitted facts.
“While still under the obligation to use reasonable care and caution to avoid a collision even to the extent of yielding his right of way if reasonably necessary, nevertheless under the circumstances he had the right to assume, until put upon reasonable notice to the contrary, that any motorists on 17th Avenue would obey the traffic ordinance and yield to him the right of way.”
Establishes that a driver with the right of way may reasonably rely on others obeying traffic ordinances
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff was traveling south on 12th Street, a through street protected by "Yield right of way" signs on the intersecting 17th Avenue. Defendant was …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Duty To Yield cases and more on FLexlaw
This cause is here on appeal from a summary judgment for defendant entered in the Civil and Criminal Court of Record of Pinellas County.
The cause of action in which the judgment was entered arose out of an intersection collision in St. Petersburg between plaintiff, travelling south on 12th Street and defendant travelling west on 17th Avenue. Twelfth Street is a through street protected by official “Yield right of way” signs on 17th Avenue. Such signs are provided by ordinance of the City of St. Petersburg which requires that vehicles when facing such a sign shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching from right or left on the intersecting street, which are so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.
The summary judgment was entered solely on plaintiff’s deposition in which he admitted that he did not look in the direction from which defendant appeared *39after he, the plaintiff, had approached within “maybe 10 or 20 feet” of the intersection and that he did not actually see defendant’s car until the collision. Whether defendant had stopped prior to entering the intersection or how fast defendant entered the intersection is not settled one way or the other by the deposition. Plaintiff contends in his deposition that defendant entered the intersection so fast that plaintiff did not have an opportunity to see the defendant prior to the impact.
The summary judgment was entered upon the ground that a motorist is charged with seeing what is plain to be seen and is guilty of negligence if he fails to use his faculties to see what is plainly observable by the ordinary use of the faculty of vision.
We think it was error to enter summary judgment in this case. Plaintiff’s deposition establishes that he was travelling on a through street and under the ordinance had the right of way over defendant. While still under the obligation to use reasonable care and caution to avoid a collision even to the extent of yielding his right of way if reasonably necessary, nevertheless under the circumstances he had the right to assume, until put upon reasonable notice to the contrary, that any motorists on 17th Avenue would obey the traffic ordinance and yield to him the right of way.
Even where the evidence is not in dispute, when conflicting reasonable inferences may be drawn from the admitted facts, questions of negligence and negligent causation are peculiarly questions of fact which should be permitted to go to the jury. Here the extent of plaintiff’s reliance on his right of way, the assumption that defendant would yield, as well as every other aspect of this collision which a trial might develop are questions to be considered by a jury in deciding the ultimate fact of causative negligence. Weber v. Porco, Fla., 100 So.2d 146.
The caution with which trial courts must consider summary judgments in cases such as this is too well known to require repetition of citations here.
The summary judgment appealed from is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Reversed.
KANNER, C. J., and ALLEN, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (13 total)
-
Whitman v. RED TOP Sedan Serv., Inc., 218 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)…Beem, Fla.1956, 90 So. 2d 320, 322; Guhman v. Florida Power & Light Company, Fla.App.1962, 139 So. 2d 749, 750; Guerriero v. Adams, Fla. App.1966, 190 So. 2d 432, 433. . Kerr v. Caraway, Fla.1955, 78 So. 2d 571, 572; Mason v. Remick, Fla.App. 1950, 107 So. 2d 38, 39; 3 Fla.Jur., Automobiles § 93.…
-
Garris v. Robeison, 146 So. 2d 388 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)…onflicts as to immaterial facts do not constitute genuine issues which should be submitted to the jury. Peeler v. Duval County, Fla.1954, 70 So. 2d 354. A driver with a traffic signal in his favor has the right of way. Mason v. Remick, Fla.App.1958, 107 So. 2d 38. “A favorable traffic signal does not of itself give a driver of an automobile the unqualified right to proceed into an intersection in the face of traffic presently in the intersection or so close thereto as to create a hazard. When proceeding int…
-
U. S. Fire Ins. Co. v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. & Phillip Hurlock, 362 So. 2d 414 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)…section. He has not exercised reasonable care once he knows or should have known that another motorist is going to run a red light and has a clear opportunity to avoid the collision. (Emphasis supplied, citations omitted.) See also Mason v. Remick, 107 So. 2d 38, 39 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958); Tackett v. Hartack, 98 So. 2d 896 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957). [*416] Hurloek, in his deposition, said that as he approached the 22nd-Avenue intersection he saw a police car stopped at the red light to his left, so he checked his spee…
Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Weber v. Porco, 100 So. 2d 146 (Fla. 1958)