Thoresen Et Al. v. Grything Et Al‪.‬

On March 2, 1951, a clear, cold day, John Grything, with the plaintiffs as his guests, was driving south on Highway 35 in Polk County. The highway was straight and level and partially covered with packed snow and ice. He first observed an automobile parked on the west side of the road when he was at a point about a quarter mile from it. When he reached a point from 400 to 600 feet from the car he started to slow down by a slight application of the brakes and at that point saw another car coming north on the east side of the road. When he was about 300 feet from the parked car he saw a man starting to get out of it. When the man had gotten out of the car he was about 200 feet north of the parked car and the northbound car was about 300 feet south of it. For the purpose of permitting the north bound car to pass he then decreased his speed to about 20 miles per hour by a gradual application of his brakes. He testified that when he applied the brakes he was going at the rate of about 20 miles per hour. The northbound car passed and he turned to the east lane to pass the parked car. When he started the turn he was travelling between eight and ten miles per hour.