Mounteer

This appeal raises issues of the construction and validity of the statute (Pub. Util. Code, § 7952) fixing the measure of damages for injury to or destruction of poles supporting power transmission lines of certain public utilities.

Plaintiff-respondent alleged that defendants negligently caused their automobile to collide with a roadside utility pole which supported plaintiff’s transmission line. Replacement of the pole was required. Defendants admitted liability but contested the damage claim, asserting the right to credit for depreciation of the pole. Respondent alleged damage of $2,070.87, and the trial court awarded that amount. Defendants appealed. The appellate department, Contra Costa County, affirmed and certified the case to us to secure uniformity of decision in an area of the law in which many cases, each for moderate amount, aggregate a substantial sum each year.

Section 7952, so far as here applicable, provides: “Any person who injures or destroys, through want of proper care, any necessary or useful . . . facility or equipment of any telegraph, telephone, electrical, or gas corporation, is liable to the corporation for all damages sustained thereby. The…