Paul Cole, Administrator of the Estate of Boyd Byron Cole v. Layrite Products Company, a Washington Corporation

This wrongful death action was brought by the appellant Paul Cole, plaintiff below, as the personal representative of the estate of his father, Boyd Byron Cole, and on behalf of himself and his sister, Donna Lee King, as children of the decedent. The district court entered judgment on a jury verdict for the defendant Layrite Products Company, appellee here. The district court further denied appellant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative for a new trial, and this appeal followed. Jurisdiction was properly invoked in the district court under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 , and this court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

The record reveals that on April 15, 1966, the decedent and his wife were driving north on Highway 195, a two-lane undivided highway near Colfax, Washington. A car and trailer were proceeding in the same direction just ahead of them, and a third vehicle was traveling immediately behind the Cole vehicle.

The vehicle owned by the appellee, concededly being operated by Layrite’s employee Henry Abrams, in the scope and course of his employment, was traveling south on the same highway. As the Abrams vehicle approached the three oncoming…