Blomsness v. Puget Sound Electric Railway

92 P. 414, 47 Wash. 620, 1907 Wash. LEXIS 823
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 21, 1907
DocketNo. 6794
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 92 P. 414 (Blomsness v. Puget Sound Electric Railway) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blomsness v. Puget Sound Electric Railway, 92 P. 414, 47 Wash. 620, 1907 Wash. LEXIS 823 (Wash. 1907).

Opinion

Dunbar, J.

This is an action for personal injuries, alleged to have been sustained by the appellant by being struck in the face and on the head with a lantern, in the hand of a conductor who had charge of a train of cars on one of which the áppellant was at the time a passenger.

The complaint alleges, that on July 4, 1906, the appellant, with his wife and two children, went on board one of defendant’s passenger trains at Tacoma, Washington, to be transported to Seattle; that he there paid the conductor the usual and customary fare for such transportation; that under the rules and regulations of the company, he was entitled to a transfer from Seattle to Ballard; that when they arrived at Seattle, the conductor struck the plaintiff in the face with a lantern which he was using in his business and work as con[621]*621ductor, and inflicted the injury for which damages are sought; that the only reason why the conductor struck the plaintiff was because the plaintiff asked the conductor for a transfer over the Ballard line.

The defendant denied the material allegations of the complaint, and alleged an affirmative defense which was denied by the plaintiff. After plaintiff had introduced his testimony and rested his case, defendant made a motion of nonsuit, claiming that the relation of common carrier and passenger had ceased to exist at the time the assault was committed. The court granted the motion, and judgment of nonsuit was entered.

The testimony of the appellant was to the effect that, at the time he paid the fare to the conductor, he asked him for a transfer on the Ballard car line, which he was entitled to under the rules of the company, and the conductor replied, saying, “I will give you that between Georgetown and Seattlethat the appellant did not see the conductor as he was issuing transfers, and as the train rounded the corner of Yesler Way in Seattle and while the conductor was standing on the back platform of the car upon which the appellant was situated, the appellant again asked for a transfer on the Ballard line, whereupon the following colloquy ensued:

“He (the conductor) says, ‘Why didn’t you ask for a transfer when I was in the car to give a transfer?’ ‘Well,’ I says, ‘I didn’t see you.’ Then he told me to stand out to one side, because the train came to a stop at that time, and he was going down on the ground. Q. And then when it came to a stop what happened? A. He says to get out of the road for the passengers, and I stepped off, and I told him then—I says that I was told— Q. When you stepped off where did you go with reference to the train? A. I stood right by the side of him, right close. Q. Where was he? A. He stood on the step there, or on the side of the step—the handle of the car going in the— Q. How close to the car? A. He stood right up close to it, so he put his coat right up against the side, helping the passengers. Q. Off the car? A. Yes, sir. Q. And then you said to him what? A. I said to him that I was told that I was going to get a transfer between Georgetown and [622]*622Seattle, and I says, ‘I didn’t see any of you in there.’ He says, ‘Don’t bother me; I ain’t got any time now,’ and so I knew—he was speaking in a very angry tone. Q. What was he doing at that time when you were talking to him? A. He was helping the passengers coming off of the car. Q. Well, then what happened between you and him after that? A. When they were all out I said to him, ‘Am I entitled to a transfer on the Ballard line, or am I not?’ and he says, ‘Damn it, I told you before. Q. He says what? A. He swore. Q. What did he say? A. Pie says, ‘Damn it, I told you before,’ he says, ‘that I was in the car there,’ he says, ‘and why didn’t you open your face then?’ and I turned around and I says to him, ‘I didn’t see you in the car, and I don’t believe you were in there,’ and so I turned around and was going to the car, and he says, ‘What is that?’ and he came for me, and kind of raised up his left hand and struck me on the shoulder a little bit, and just only turned me around, and he ’says, ‘What is that?’ and I says, ‘I didn’t see you in the car, and I don’t believe you were in there.’ He says, ‘Don’t say that to me,’ he says, and then he hauled off with his lantern and struck me right over the head. Q. With what? A. With a lantern, so the glass and everything was all over my face and I fell down.”

This is the substance of the plaintiff’s testimony.

The pertinent question in this case is whether the appellant was a passenger at the time of the alleged assault. Upon the determination of this question depends the other question, whether the conductor was acting within the scope of his employment at the time the assault was made. If he was, the company was responsible for his tortious acts; if he was not, it cannot be held responsible, for it is well settled that the liability of the master for intentional acts which constitute legal wrongs can only arise when the acts complained of are within the apparent scope of the master’s business. It is equally well settled that, within such scope, the master is liable, for the contract on the part of the company is to safely carry its passengers and to compensate them for all unlawful and tortious injuries inflicted by its servants. It is contended by the respondent, and that was evidently the view [623]*623taken by the trial judge, that in this instance the appellant had ceased to be a passenger at the time the assault was made upon him; and many cases are cited to sustain such contention. But an investigation of these cases convinces us that the decisions rendered were based upon an entirely different state of facts from the facts proven in this case. Booth on Street Railway Law, p. 445, is quoted as follows:

“But the general rule, applicable alike to general traffic roads and street railways, that all parts of their stations, platforms, and the approaches thereto must be kept in a safe condition, cannot be extended so as to include the public street in which passengers are received and discharged, and over which the street railway company has no control. The street is in no sense a passenger station for the safety of which the company is responsible. When a passenger steps from a car upon the highway and terminates his relations and rights as a passenger, the company is not responsible to him as a carrier for the condition of the street, or for his safe passage from the car to the sidewalk.”

This may be conceded to be the law, and it may be conceded that the distinction made between street railways and the ordinary steam railroad is a just one. The learned author further on bases the distinction upon the ground that the contractual relation is ended when the passenger alights from a street car, and that if he again boards the car he is responsible for another fare under another contract. But this reasoning is not applicable to-the facts proven in this case, for it must be conceded that, under the contract made, by the respondent, the appellant had not arrived at his destination when he alighted from the car in the city of Seattle, for he had paid for transportation to the city of Ballard. It was necessary for him to alight for the purpose of changing cars, and to receive the benefit of his contract it was necessary for him to travel outside of the car between the car from which he alighted and the Ballard car. The trip was a continuous one, and the fact that he had to change cars could not in justice or fairness [624]*624effect his rights as a passenger. The learned author just quoted, after stating the rule, at page 503, says:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 P. 414, 47 Wash. 620, 1907 Wash. LEXIS 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blomsness-v-puget-sound-electric-railway-wash-1907.