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267 N.C. 87

147 S.E.2d 535

Waycaster v. Sparks

Supreme Court of North Carolina

Decided April 13, 1966

Supreme Court of North Carolina · decided 1966-04-13

Relies on Coleman v. Colonial Stores, Inc. · Thomas v. Morgan · White v. Roach

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1966-04-13

How this case has been cited

Cited by 10 later decisions — most recently December 1982

10 state decisions

60196619701980decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Per Curiam.

¶1 In reviewing a judgment of nonsuit we are required to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, accept the evidence so construed as true, and disregard all evidence in conflict therewith, including any inconsistencies or contradictions in the plaintiff’s evidence. Thomas v. Morgan, 262 N.C. 292, 136 S.E. 2d 700; White v. Roach, 261 N.C. 371, 134 S.E. 2d *90 651; Coleman v. Colonial Stores, Inc., 259 N.C. 241, 130 S.E. 2d 338.

¶2 A motorist must operate his vehicle with the care which would be used by a reasonable man who saw what the defendant saw or could have seen. The presence of a seven year old child at or near the edge of the pavement of a highway is, itself, a danger signal to an approaching motorist. A nonsuit may not be granted upon the basis of contributory negligence by a child of that age.

¶3 Interpreted in accordance with the above mentioned rule, the evidence offered by the plaintiff was sufficient to require the submission of the case to the jury. In so ruling we do not, of course, suggest either that the evidence was true or that it presents the entire factual situation. These are questions for the jury to determine.

¶4 Since the case must go back to the Superior Court for another trial, it is not necessary for us on this appeal to consider the assignments of error relating to the admission of evidence. They may not arise on the second trial.

¶5 Reversed.

Mooee, J., not sitting.
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