Akers v. Cowan’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

33 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 33 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Speed Law Based on Weight and Tire Equipment, (a) No person shall operate upon any highway any of the following vehicles when equipped entirely with pneumatic tires at any speed in excess of 40 miles per hour: (1) Any motor truck and trailer. (2) Any motor truck alone or truck tractor with semitrailer having a gross weight, of vehicle and load or of such vehicles and load of 25,000 pounds or more.” . Immediately following the above instruction the court gave this instruction: “The speed at which a vehicle travels upon a highway, considered as an isolated fact and simply in terms of so many miles an hour, is not proof either of negligence or of the exercise of ordinary care. “Whether that rate of speed is a negligent one is a question of fact, the answer to which depends on all the surrounding circumstances. “The basic speed law of this state, as provided by Section 510 of our Vehicle Code, is as follows: “ ‘No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent, having due regard for the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.’ “A violation of this basic rule is negligence. “From the law just stated to you, it follows that although a vehicle is being driven upon a highway at a speed not greater than the prima facie limit fixed by law, such speed, nevertheless, might be negligent in the then existing circumstances; also, although a vehicle is b”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Burch v. Valley Motor Lines, Inc. · 161 Cal. App. 2d 177 - Lewis v. Franklin

2. ““However, we are of the view that the court committed prejudicial error in its instructions as to the law regulating the speed of automobiles. The court instructed the jury in the language of section 510, Vehicle Code, that ‘no person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property. ’ The court then read to the jury section 511 of the Vehicle Code, verbatim. This section fixes ‘prima facie’ speed limits. It includes the following provisions: ‘The speed of any vehicle upon a highway in excess of any of the limits specified in this section is prima facie unlawful unless the defendant establishes by competent evidence that any said speed in excess of said limits did not constitute a violation of the basic rule declared in section 510 hereof at the time, place and under the conditions then existing.’ “The court gave the further instruction: ‘You are instructed that by Section 513 of the Vehicle Code of the State of California, in force at the time of the collision, it is provided: “In any civil action proof of speed in excess of any prima facie limit declared in Section 511 hereof at a particular time and place shall not establish negligence as a matter of law but in all such actions it shall be necessary to establish as a fact that the operation of a vehicle at such excess speed constit”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 174 Cal. App. 2d 470 - Gulley v. Warren

3. ““. . . [T]he jury was given two conflicting instructions relating to the burden of proof in this connection, the first of which, although clearly erroneous, was particularly tied in with and directly related to two of the prima facie limits of speed referred to in the same section of the code. It has been frequently held that the giving, of an erroneous instruction is not cured by the giving of other correct instructions, where the effect is simply to produce a clear conflict in the instructions and it is not possible to know which instruction was followed by the jury in arriving at a verdict. ’ ’”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 135 Cal. App. 2d 455 - Eslick v. Leach