Clippinger

Plaintiff brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by him as a result of a collision between himself, a pedestrian, and an automobile which was being operated by defendant. Trial of the action before a jury resulted in the return of a verdict in plaintiff’s favor in the amount of $7,500. Judgment was entered in conformity with the verdict. Defendant then moved for a new trial. The motion was granted on the sole ground that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict. Plaintiff appeals from the order granting a new trial.

Appellant contends that application of the doctrine of last clear chance to the facts developed by the evidence demonstrates that the evidence is ample to support the verdict in his favor and would not warrant a contrary verdict and that therefore the order from which the appeal is presented must be reversed.

In making this contention appellant properly concedes the existence of the well-settled rule which precludes a reviewing court from disturbing an order granting a new trial on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence to justify a verdict in the absence of a clear showing that the trial court abused the very wide…