Bury v. Detroit United Railway

164 N.W. 460, 198 Mich. 447, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 903
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 1917
DocketDocket No. 82
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 164 N.W. 460 (Bury v. Detroit United Railway) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bury v. Detroit United Railway, 164 N.W. 460, 198 Mich. 447, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 903 (Mich. 1917).

Opinion

Ostrander, J.

Plaintiff offered testimony tending to prove that her intestate boarded one of defendant’s south-bound cars running on Oakland avenue May 5, 1914, at about 6 o’clock a. m., at the corner of Holbrook avenue, and because the car was full was invited to, and did, with three others, go into and ride in the motorman’s vestibule. Four blocks farther south, at the corner of Philadelphia avenue, a north-bound car [449]*449running on parallel tracks derailed and ran across the rails on which the said south-bound car was traveling, a collision resulted, many were hurt, and plaintiff’s. intestate died as a result of his injuries. The derailed ear had nearly, if not quite, lost momentum when it was struck by the car going south, but so close were the cars together that the driver of the south-bound car had time to do little, if anything, to stop his car.

It is alleged in plaintiff’s declaration to be a duly of defendant to refrain and desist from operating cars upon and along rails, tracks, and roadbed after having notice, knowledge, or information that they are not in a fit and safe condition for the passage of cars, and a breach of this duty is alleged to have occurred upon the occasion in question. It is alleged also that the cars were operated at too high a rate of speed, everything considered, and, specifically, it is alleged:

“That the said rate of speed was not only dangerous to the life and limbs of all the passengers on said car, but that said car or cars were thus carelessly, negligently, and rapidly run on and over a section of defendant’s said tracks at or near the intersection of Philadelphia avenue, as aforesaid, without being under proper control, as they should have been, and over a defective and insufficient track and over defective and insufficient rails, and over rails that were depressed and lowered in places, and bulged up in others, and over rails not properly spiked to the cross-ties, by reason of all of which acts of carelessness and negligence on the part of said defendant so done and committed, and without any fault or negligence on the part of this plaintiff’s decedent, a certain car of said defendant’s at the time and place aforesaid, being operated in a northerly direction on the said Fourteenth avenue line, upon and along Oakland avenue as aforesaid, was by said defendant, its agents, servants, and employees, so carelessly and negligently run, propelled, operated, and managed so as to throw and precipitate [450]*450said car from the rails and tracks of said line, and to cause it to derail and leave the said tracks and precipitate itself with great force and violence upon and over the parallel, track of said defendant’s, upon said street, causing it thereby to violently collide with and strike. the car upon which this plaintiff’s decedent had so become a passenger, at the invitation and request of said defendant.”

The testimony tends to prove that from Euclid avénue, which is farther south than Philadelphia avenue, to the northern terminus at Woodland avenue, the roadbed in Oakland avenue was in poor condition. Defendant introduced, over objection, testimony tending to prove that it was, as between defendant and the city of Detroit, the duty of the city to relay the foundations for its tracks, and maintain such foundations, and that for three successive prior years defendant had notified the city authorities that the foundation under its tracks in the vicinity was defective and requested its repair and restoration, being itself ready and willing to relay its tracks. Over this defective roadbed it was safe, so defendant’s witnesses say, to operate the type of cars in use there (single-truck cars seating 28 people) at a rate of speed not exceeding 12 miles an hour — 10 to 12 miles an hour. Cars had derailed on this roadbed, on both tracks, rather frequently, six or seven times from October, 1912, to May 5, 1914, and within six or eight weeks before the accident one derailed within a distance of 120 feet south of the derail in question here and on the same track. Cars of the type described run over the wavy roadbed, acquired a considerable dipping and a swaying movement. Properly handled, and it seems that they can be steadied by the proper use of air, they could be operated over this defective roadbed safely at the rate of speed above indicated.

The movement of the south-bound car on the particular occasion was described by witnesses. It left [451]*451its northern terminus at 5.55, and arrived at Philadelphia avenue and the place of collision at 5:59. It does not appear how many stops were made. It does appear that the car. started with a seated load, and acquired passengers as it proceeded until, when plaintiff and his companions boarded it, it' was crowded, and they were taken into the front vestibule. One of its passengers estimated the speed of the car at the moment preceding the collision at 25 miles an hour. The motorman who drove it was killed.

Witnesses fixed the speed of the north-bound car, which was carrying from 80 to 100 passengers, at no more than 10 miles an hour. Another witness, however, who was on the north-bound car, testified that the speed maintained on the bad track north of Euclid avenue was the same as that maintained on the good track. There was also testimony tending to prove:

That when the north-bound car “got past Euclid the car jumped up and down.” “She hit first in front and up in back, and then we stopped and ran into the other car. She made lots of noise; would go bang down there and hit the front and back.”

A witness testified that at the point where the wheels of the north-bound car left the track, as indicated by the impression on the pavement, there was a broken flange on one rail of the track. A wavy condition of the rails, the rails visibly not in alignment, nor in gauge, at about the place where the car left the track, is a condition testified to by a witness who was on the north-bound car.

Testimony for defendant tended to prove that no mark on the car wheel indicated that it had been in contact with the broken lip of the rail, and that the gauge of the rails on the north-bound track was good a very short time, a few hours, after the accident, and that it had been gauged the day previous and found to be in good condition.

[452]*452Plaintiff had an adverse verdict, and complains here of:

(1) The rulings admitting evidence of the relation of the defendant and the city of Detroit with respect to the laying and maintaining of the roadbed for defendant’s tracks at the place in question.
(2) The charge of the court.
(3) The refusal of the court to give plaintiff’s request to charge No. 2, except as modified, refusal to give plaintiff’s request No. 3, refusal to give plaintiff’s request No. 4, except as modified.
(4) The refusal of the court to grant plaintiff’s motion for a new trial.

The requests to charge referred to are:

“(2) This duty of the defendant to plaintiff’s deceased was the duty by itself and its servants to do all that a high degree of care and prudence required it to do in and about the conduct of the business.

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Related

Frederick v. City of Detroit
121 N.W.2d 918 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 N.W. 460, 198 Mich. 447, 1917 Mich. LEXIS 903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bury-v-detroit-united-railway-mich-1917.