Ruby Miller and James Miller v. Jerry L

Action for personal injuries arising out of an automobile collision. Jury verdict was for Ruby Miller in the amount of $10,000.00
for her injuries and James Miller in the amount of $3,500.00 for past and future medical expenses, additional help in the
home and on the farm, and past and future loss of his wife's companionship, services, society and consortion. Defendant raises
three allegations of prejudicial error: (1) as to the admission of testimony of plaintiffs' medical expert, over objection,
as to Mrs. Miller's possible future medical treatment; (2) in allowing Mrs. Miller and her husband to testify over objection
as to the number of their children, give their names and ages, and to identify some of them as present in the courtroom on
the day of trial; and (3) refusal to allow inquiry by defendant's counsel as to whether Mrs. Miller was wearing a seat belt
at the time the collision occurred. The facts bearing on these issues, taken in the light required of us by the verdict for plaintiffs, are that the accident
furnishing the basis for this action occurred in the State of Illinois where plaintiffs were residents. Defendant is a resident
of Missouri. As Mrs. Miller was proceeding toward her home from a shopping trip she noticed a woman standing in the road waving
at her to stop and also noticed that an automobile was off of the road near where this woman was standing. Upon stopping the
1966 automobile belonging to the plaintiffs, Mrs. Miller discovered this woman, later identified as a Mrs. Clark, was injured.
She drove Mrs. Clark to a farm house, a distance of about a city block, where they made some telephone calls to get assistance.
She then put Mrs. Clark in her automobile and started to bring her into town for medical assistance. As she neared the spot
where she had picked up Mrs. Clark she noticed a car coming around a curve and down a hill immediately ahead of her. This
was the defendant who, when Mrs. Miller first saw him, was then in the center of the highway. She immediately began applying
her brakes and driving over toward the right-hand side of the road. Prior to the time the impact occurred she was completely
stopped and off the road as far as she could get her automobile without it falling down the ditch Mrs. Clark's automobile
had descended. Defendant testified that as he approached the scene he noticed the Clark car in the ditch and was looking at
it, and when he looked back at the road he saw Mrs. Miller's automobile right in front of him. She had been stopped for a
short period of time and she had had time to brace herself before the impact occurred.