Long

Appellant, as plaintiff in the court below, brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have resulted from the negligent operation by defendant of his automobile. In addition to denying the existence of the negligent acts attributed to him, defendant affirmatively pleaded contributory negligence on the part of plaintiff as a proximate cause of her injuries. The action was tried before a jury, who returned a verdict in favor of defendant, and it is from the judgment entered thereon and an order denying a new trial that plaintiff appeals.

It is a resultant inference arising from the minute examination we have made of the record that the verdict of the jury was necessarily predicated upon a finding on its part that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence; for, as hereinafter pointed out, negligence on the part of defendant clearly appears. For this reason, and because of certain established evidentiary facts hereinafter referred to in detail, the instructions of the court upon the subject of contributory negligence were of crucial importance to a fair and correct determination of the case by the jury.

The accident occurred at 8:15 P. M. on the…