Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Smith

156 S.W. 166, 107 Ark. 512, 1913 Ark. LEXIS 173
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 7, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 156 S.W. 166 (Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Smith) 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
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. v. Smith, 156 S.W. 166, 107 Ark. 512, 1913 Ark. LEXIS 173 (Ark. 1913).

Opinion

Hart, J.,

(after stating the facts). The court gave the following instruction at the request of the plaintiff, which was objected to by the defendant.

“No. 2. You are instructed'that at the time of receiving the injury complained of, the defendant railway company owed to the plaintiff the duty of using ordinary care and diligence in providing for the safety of the plaintiff and his foreman a suitable and safe hammer for the purpose of doing the work in which they were engaged. The plaintiff while doing the work in which he was engaged did not assume the risk of any dangers from the use of said hammer, if furnished by the defendant to the plaintiff for his use in the work in which he was engaged, which arose from the negligence of the defendant unless he was aware of the negligence of the defendant in providing the hammer then being used and appreciated the dangers arising therefrom. If the plaintiff had no knowledge of the defective condition of the hammer, then he had a right to rely upon the assumption that the defendant had performed the duty devolving upon it so as not to expose him to extraordinary danger. ’ ’

The court also gave the following instruction, among others, at the request of the defendant:

“No. 7. The plaintiff is presumed to know of such defects in the hammer as were plainly to be seen by ordinary observation, and you are instructed that if the injury to plaintiff was caused by a defect in the hammer which could have been discovered by ordinary observation, he can not recover in this case.”

It will be observed that in instruction No. 2, given at the request of the plaintiff, the court told the jury that the plaintiff “did not assume the risk of any danger from the use of said hammer which arose from the negligence of the defendant unless he was aware of the negligence of the defendant in providing the hammer and appreciated the dangers arising therefrom. ’ ’ Counsel for the defendant say that they insisted that this instruction should be modified so as to state “or by the exercise of ordinary care on his part could have known, ’' etc., and “by the exercise of ordinary care would have appreciated the dangers arising therefrom.” The court did not err in refusing to modify the instruction as requested by counsel for tbe defendant; for the practical effect of the modification would have been to tell the jury that the plaintiff should have examined the hammer for. defects in it before he handed it to Blackman, the car repairer, for use; and this he was not required to do. In the ciase of Little Rock, M. R. & T. Ry. Co. v. Leverett, Admr., 48 Ark. 333, the court said:

“A servant is not required to inspect the appliances of the business in which he is employed, to see whether or not there are latent defects that render their use more than ordinarily hazardous, but is only required to take notice of such defects or hazards as are obvious to the senses. The fact that he might have known of defects, or that he had the means and opportunity of knowing of them, will not preclude him from a recovery unless he did in fact know of them, or in the exercise of ordinary care ought to have known of them. He is not bound to make an examination to find defects. There is no such legal obligation imposed upon him. That is the duty of the master. The servant is not bound to search for dangers, except those risks that are patent to ordinary observation ; he has a right to rely upon the judgment and discretion of his master, and that he will- fully perform his duty towards him.” (Citing'cases.)

In the case of Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Company v. Jones, 77 Ark. 367, the court said:

' “In the application of the doctrine of assumption of risks a distinction must be also made between those cases where the injury is due to one of the ordinary risks of the service, and where it is due to some altered condition of the service, caused by the negligence of the master. The servant is presumed to know the ordinary risks. It is his duty to inform himself of them; and if he negligently fails to do so, he will still be held to have assuméd them. The decision in the recent case of Grayson-McLeod Company v. Carter, 76 Ark. 69, rests on that ground as do many other cases found in the reports. But the servant is: not presumed to know of risks and dangers caused by the negligence of the master, after he enters the service, which changes the condition of the service. If he is injured by such negligence, he can not be. said to have assumed the risk, in the absence of knowledge on his part that there was such a danger; for, as we. have before stated, the doctrine of assumed risk rests on contráct, but if the injury was caused in part by his own negligence, he may be guilty of contributory negligence.. On the other hand, if he realizes the danger, and still elects to go ahead and expose himself to it, then, although he acts with the greatest care, he may, if injured, be held to have assumed the risk.” (Citing cases.)

Again, in the case of St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Birch, 89 Ark. 424, the court said:

“The contention of learned counsel is that the above, quoted instruction given at the instance of the plaintiff is erroneous, because it ignores the question of assumed risk. This instruction was predicated on the theory of negligence on the part of defendant in leaving the car, door open so as to expose the switchman to danger. His right of recovery was made to depend entirely upon such negligence on the part of the defendant and the exercise of due care on his own part. He did not assume the risk of danger created by the negligent, act of the employer unless he was aware of the danger and appreciated it. The fact that he could, by the exercise of ordinary care, have discovered and avoided the danger did not constitute an assumption of the risk where it arose by reason of negligence of the master, though he might have been guilty of contributory negligence, which would have prevented a recovery. Choctaw, O. & G. Rd. Co. v. Jones, 77 Ark. 367. In this respect the instruction given at the instance of the defendant was too favorable to it for the jury were therein told, in effect, that, notwithstanding the negligence of the defendant, if the plaintiff knew, or by the exercise of ordinary care and diligence could have known, of the condition of the car, how it was loaded and whether the door was open or not,’ then he-is deemed to have assumed the risk of the danger. This is not correct, as already stated.”

Counsel for the defendant also contend that the court erred in refusing certain instructions requested by them. We need not set out the instructions; for they are open to the same vices as the modification to instruction numbered 2, requested by them, and in the application of the principles above announced, the court did not err in refusing them to the jury.

It is next insisted by counsel that the court erred in not directing a verdict for the defendant, but we are' of the opinion that it was a question for the jury whether or not plaintiff assumed the risk of the defective condition of the hammer. The undisputed evidence shows that the hammer had an imperfect striking face and was in a defective condition, when considered with reference to the uses for which it was intended.

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Bluebook (online)
156 S.W. 166, 107 Ark. 512, 1913 Ark. LEXIS 173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-rock-island-pacific-railway-co-v-smith-ark-1913.