Curtin v. Benjamin

26 N.E.2d 354, 305 Mass. 489, 129 A.L.R. 433, 1940 Mass. LEXIS 843
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedMarch 26, 1940
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 26 N.E.2d 354 (Curtin v. Benjamin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curtin v. Benjamin, 26 N.E.2d 354, 305 Mass. 489, 129 A.L.R. 433, 1940 Mass. LEXIS 843 (Mass. 1940).

Opinion

Cox, J.

These are two actions to recover damages for personal injuries and death, tried with five other personal injury and property damage cases, arising out of the collision, on the evening of September 7, 1936, of an automobile travelling west, driven by the plaintiff Curtin, in which the other plaintiff's intestate was riding, and an automobile travelling east driven by the defendant. Whether the collision occurred on the north or south side of the road was in dispute, as was the location of a gouge mark in the vicinity of the center of the road. It was not in dispute that, after the collision, the Curtin automobile travelled in a generally westerly direction about one hundred twenty-five feet, swinging to the south side of the road where it came to rest against some trees entirely off the travelled portion of the way. The speed of the respective automobiles and the manner of collision were in dispute. The evidence introduced by the defendant was to the effect that, as his automobile was travelling at a speed of twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles an hour, the Curtin automobile swung out of line, came across the road and struck his automobile, the point of contact being between the left front fender and wheel of the Curtin automobile and the left front fender, wheel and whole left side of his automobile. The evidence in behalf of the plaintiffs was to the effect that, as the Curtin automobile was proceeding at the rate of twenty-eight to thirty miles an hour, the defendant's automobile turned out of line, came across the center of the road and struck the [491]*491Curtin automobile, turning it over, the point of contact being between the left side at the rear door of the Curtin automobile and the left front fender and wheel of the defendant’s automobile. The jury found for the defendant and the only exceptions of the plaintiffs are to the admission of certain evidence.

There was evidence from witnesses who saw the Curtin automobile at the scene of the accident that the photographs introduced in evidence fairly represented it as it then appeared. See Smith v. Gammino, 225 Mass. 285, 286. For purposes of the case it is enough to say that the photographs show a flat tire on the left front wheel. After the collision, this automobile was towed to a garage, and there was evidence from the garage owner that the condition of the tires on the four wheels was the same on February 2, 1937, as it was on the evening of the collision, right after the automobile had been towed to the garage. An expert was permitted to testify, over the plaintiffs’ exception, that the tires were “smooth, very smooth; no treads on the tire; especially the tire that was on the left front; that was very very smooth.”

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Bluebook (online)
26 N.E.2d 354, 305 Mass. 489, 129 A.L.R. 433, 1940 Mass. LEXIS 843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curtin-v-benjamin-mass-1940.