Dowden

Petitioners are the surviving widow and children of Emery G. Dowden, who suffered fatal injuries in the course of his employment. Petitioners applied to the Industrial Accident Commission for an increased award pur suant to Labor Code section 4553, contending that the accident occurred as the result of serious and wilful misconduct on the part of Dowden’s employer, Newton Polander. The commission denied the award and petitioners seek review.

For several years before his death Dowden had been employed as a worker on ranches operated by Polander in Colusa County. Occasionally it was necessary to move a harvester along a county highway. The harvester was a large piece of machinery with a tall structure or “elevator” in the center. When moved on the highway, it would be loaded on a low-bed trailer pulled by a diesel truck-tractor. Loaded on the trailer, the harvester had a height 20 to 21 feet above the ground. Three power transmission lines owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company crossed the highway at an angle. The lines were 20 to 21 feet above the ground. The evidence does not disclose what lateral spaces separated these lines, but a photograph indicates that they were within a…