Hopewell

This is an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff in an intersection automobile collision. A jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for the sum of $475, following which the trial court granted a new trial “on all the issues upon the ground of insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict in that the amount awarded is not in conformity with the evidence adduced at the trial and is inadequate.” Defendant John B. Hopewell appeals from this order, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion in granting a new trial.

On January 15, 1953, plaintiff, Mary Ann Butler, then approximately 9 years of age, and Marjorie Ann Church, another minor, were seated in the rear of a 1930 Ford pickup which was involved in an intersection accident with an automobile being driven by the defendant John B. Hopewell. As a result of this collision plaintiff’s head struck the side of the pickup and she was thrown through the air about 20 feet and “landed on her buttocks.” She was unconscious for several minutes and was taken to the Palomar Memorial Hospital in Escondido.

Dr. Flaiz, who examined plaintiff on her admission to the hospital, testified that she…