When will a judge grant a motion for a new trial?

We are frank to state that in our opinion the record indicates strongly that the evidence preponderates in favor of plaintiffs on the issue of defendant's negligence as well as on the issue of the contributory negligence of plaintiffs, and that in view of the verdict of the jury the case was one in which the trial court might well have granted a new trial. A trial judge in passing upon a motion for a new trial is not bound by the same rules as an appellate court. We quote what was said in Brush v. Pacific Electric Ry., 58 Cal.App. 501, at page 506, 208 P. 997, at page 1000: