Arkansas Power & Light Co. v. Mart

65 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 202, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 55
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 20, 1933
Docket4-3166 and 4-3325
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 65 S.W.2d 39 (Arkansas Power & Light Co. v. Mart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arkansas Power & Light Co. v. Mart, 65 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 202, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 55 (Ark. 1933).

Opinions

Mehaffy, J.

This action was begun by the appellee to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the appellant. The appellee alleged that on December 15, 1932, she boarded one of appellant’s inbound cars at Ninth and Barber Avenue, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and paid her fare; that, before she became seated, the car made a sudden and violent jerk forward, which threw her against the seats and then to the floor upon her head and back; that the motorman ran a block before he discovered her helpless condition, whereupon he assisted her from the floor; there were no other passengers in the car; as a result of the fall she alleged her nervous system was seriously and permanently shocked, and described her injuries; she alleged that they were permanent, and were caused by the careless, negligent and reckless manner in which the motorman started the car. She asked damages in the. sum of $35,000.

Appellant answered denying all of the material allegations in the complaint. There was a trial and a verdict and judgment for. the sum of $10,000. Appellant filed motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and this appeal is prosecuted to reverse the judgment of the circuit court.

Appellant’s first contention is that there was no negligence shown, and that its requested peremptory instruction should have been given.

Ross Powell, a witness for appellee, testified that he saw the appellee on the street car, and saw her thrown down just as the car passed Barber Avenue; that the motorman stopped the car just after it crossed Rector, and he knew positively that it was appellee; she got off at, Ninth and Main Streets. Witness was in an automobile and stopped his car and the appellee got off and, instead of going to the .sidewalk, stood there; witness put her in his ear and carried her to her home on Ninth and Barber; that she appeared to be badly hurt; witness stated that he was in his cousin’s, C. E. French’s, car, and that he had been to the Biddle Shops; that he had an appointment with Willis Smith, and he had gone to the Biddle Shops to collect $5 from Smith; that at the time of the accident he. was going home from the Biddle Shops; that it had been .snowing, and there was snow on the windows, but the car was lighted, and he could see appellee through the windows. He testified that when he drove up to the car appellee got on, he could not pass the car, and stopped his car, and it seemed that the motorman had trouble getting the street car started. Appellee was the only person on the car.

The appellee, testified that she was 38 years old, lived at 910 Barber, Little Bock, where she had lived for 10 years; that on December 15th she boarded a street car at 9th and Barber; that it was snowing and she stepped back into the car to take a seat; that the car started with a sudden and violent jerk, hard enough to thrbw her off her feet; there was no one else on the car except the motorman; that Powell picked her up at 9th and Main and took her home; that Mrs. Bisher helped put her to bed, and gave her some medicine. She then describes at length her injuries. She was facing the rear of the car when she fell, and fell toward the motorman; she did not get the number of the car, but knows it was one of the old type; she did not recognize the operator, and does not know whether she could identify him. Suit was filed on December 30th. She works for the R. F. C. at the Pulaski County Court House.

The evidence that it was snowing; that there was no other passenger on the car; that the car was an old one, and that, without giving the appellee time to be seated, the car was started with a sudden and violent jerk sufficient to throw her down in the manner the evidence shows she was thrown, together with all the surrounding circumstances, is sufficient evidence to siibmit the question to the jury.

Appellant cites and relies on the case of Oliver v. Ft. Smith Light & Traction Co., 89 Ark. 222, 116 S. W. 204, to show that starting the car suddenly or with a jerk is not sufficient to show negligence. In the case referred to and relied on, the court said: “A common carrier of passengers by street car is required to exercise the highest degree of skill and care which may reasonably be expected of intelligent and prudent persons employed in that business, in view of the instrumentalities employed and the dangers naturally to be apprehended.

“When the cars of street railway companies stop for passengers to alight, it is the duty of their servants to stop long enough for the passengers to alight, and to see that the car does not start again while any one is attempting to alight or exposed to danger. Stopping a reasonable time is not sufficient, but it is the duty of the conductor or those in charge to see and know that no passenger is in the act of alighting or in a dangerous position before putting the car in motion again.”

In the instant case it was snowing, the appellee had got on the car and the motorman knew she was 'walking back to be seated, and with this knowledge starting the car suddenly with a violent jerk before she had reached her seat was sufficient for the jury to find that the motorman was guilty of negligence. His negligence under the evidence and circumstances in this case was a question for the jury.

The court in the case above referred to also stated: “As a general rule, a street railway company is not. liable for injuries caused by the starting of its cars, nevertheless it may be liable where the method is unusual and dangerous to passengers.”

It is not shown that there was any occasion or reason for starting the car suddenly and with a violent jerk before appellee reached her seat.

Appellant then refers to a number of cases decided by the Massachusetts court, and quotes at length from Desautels v. Mass. N. E. St. Ry. Co., 276 Mass. 381, 177 N. E. 578. Quite a number of other cases from the same court are cited, and several of them, inclüdiiig the case of Desautels v. Mass. N. E. St. Ry. Co., supra, cite the case of Gollis v. Eastern Mass. St. Ry. Co., 254 Mass. 157, 149 N. E. 607. The cases cited by appellant cite this last-mentioned case as laying down the rale relied on by appellant here. The rale there stated is that a common carrier of passengers is not responsible for those sudden jolts or jerks which are the ordinary incidents of travel upon electric cars, and that starting a street car when a passenger is in the act of leaving is not negligence if the passenger is within the body of the car. In other words, the Massachusetts rule supports the contention of the appellant. The case however, relied on as laying down the rule, Gollis v. Eastern Mass. St. Ry. Co., supra, was by a divided court, the court stating: “In the opinion of a majority of the court there was no evidence to warrant a finding for the plaintiff.”

But the rule in this court is wholly different from the rule in Massachusetts. The rule here is, as stated in Oliver v. Ft. Smith Light & Traction Co., supra, that whether a sudden start is necessary and consistent with the prudent and proper operation of the car will depend upon the circumstances, and whether the evidence and circumstances in the instant case, justified a finding for the appellee, was a question for the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
65 S.W.2d 39, 188 Ark. 202, 1933 Ark. LEXIS 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arkansas-power-light-co-v-mart-ark-1933.