Marion v. Ayres v. Virgil Guy Keith

Plaintiff sought damages in the sum of $20,000 for personal injuries sustained when, as a pedestrian, he was struck by defendants car. The jury returned a verdict for defendant, hence this appeal. Plaintiff, a man sixty-five years of age, was engaged in selling newspapers at the intersection of Grand and Gravois in the City of St. Louis; he had boxes at the southeast and northwest corners. Grand Avenue runs generally north and south; Gravois, with six traffic lanes, crosses it at a somewhat oblique angle, running slightly northeast-southwest. There were traffic lights at all corners. The injury occurred at about 7:45 a.m. on September 15, 1959, when traffic was very heavy. At this hour the city had marked off, as was usual at such times, an additional lane for eastbound (downtown) traffic by putting out yellow rubber markers; in other words, the inside westbound lane was specifically marked for eastbound traffic during the morning rush hour.