Lamar v. Remmel

Thompson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Judge W. Albert Menchine, sitting with a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, granted a directed verdict in favor of the defendant-appellee at the close of the plaintiff’s, case in a suit by Frankie Lamar,. Administratrix of the Estate of John Cornell against Jeffrey H. Remmel for damages resulting from an automobile accident. The trial judge granted the motion on the basis that the evidence failed to show negligence of the defendant and also on the basis that it affirmatively showed contributory negligence on the part of John Cornell, the deceased.

The testimony was as follows: On September 16, 1968, a sunny, clear day, at approximately 12:36 P.M., the plaintiff’s decedent, then 87 years of age, was struck by defendant’s car, while the deceased was attempting to cross a public highway at the intersection of Gwynn Oak Avenue and Gwynndale Avenue, in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland. Gwynndale Avenue runs in an east and west direction and is a two-way street forty feet in width. The east and westbound lanes are divided by one solid white line in the center of the street forming equal twenty foot traffic lanes. There is a stop sign at the intersection of Gwynndale Avenue and Gwynn Oak Avenue, controlling eastbound traffic entering Gwynn Oak Avenue.

Gwynn Oak Avenue is a black top road running north and south. The northbound and southbound traffic lanes are equal in width and are divided by a grass median* strip. The southbound lanes are unmarked and total thirty-three feet in width. Just north of the intersection, ¹⁰³ the southbound lanes of Gwynn Oak Avenue are widened by a left turn lane which reduces the width of the grass median strip.

Gwynn Oak Avenue downgrades immediately north of Gwynndale Avenue, but levels off at that intersection. About 50 or 60 feet north of the intersection, Gwynn Oak Avenue curves sharply to the west. The posted speed limit on Gwynn Oak Avenue is 30 M.P.H. The crosswalk is not marked in the bed of the street at this intersection. There are sidewalks along Gwynndale Avenue and along Gwynn Oak Avenue.

There is a bus stop on Gwynn Oak Avenue, at the southeast corner of the intersection. immediately before the accident, the defendant, Jeffrey H. Remmel, age 23, drove his 1967 Plymouth from the back parking lot of Harley’s Restaurant, located on the southwest corner of the aforementioned intersection, onto Gwynndale Avenue and immediately proceeded east to the stop sign at Gwynn Oak Avenue. As he pulled from the parking lot, he noticed the plaintiff’s decedent walking in an easterly direction on the north sidewalk of Gwynndale Avenue opposite the driveway. The defendant stopped at the stop sign (next to the white center line) and because of heavy traffic remained there at least 30 seconds before driving into the intersection. It was the defendant’s intention, after arriving at the stop sign, to proceed north on Gwynn Oak Avenue, which would require crossing the two southbound lanes and a left turn at the median crossover.

He first looked to his right to observe northbound traffic on Gwynn Oak Avenue and then looked to his left to observe southbound traffic on Gwynn Oak Avenue. After looking to his left, he moved into the intersection and continued looking to his left until he struck the plaintiff’s decedent. The deceased was crossing the street apparently from northwest to southeast to catch a bus. Remmel did not see the pedestrian in the intersection prior to hitting him because he was looking to his left.

Three to five seconds elapsed between the time he looked to his left until the time he struck the deceased. ¹⁰⁴ The sharp curve of Gwynn Oak Avenue, north of the intersection, limits visibility in that direction to about fifty or sixty feet. The defendant’s vision of southbound traffic was also slightly obstructed by a telephone pole on the northwest corner of the