Feldman v. Chicago Railways Co.

124 N.E. 334, 289 Ill. 25
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedJune 18, 1919
DocketNo. 12577
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 124 N.E. 334 (Feldman v. Chicago Railways Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Feldman v. Chicago Railways Co., 124 N.E. 334, 289 Ill. 25 (Ill. 1919).

Opinions

Mr. Justice Stone

delivered the opinion of the court:

This cause comes to this court by certiorari to the Aplate Court' for the First District, which coiirt heard the cause on appeal and reversed the judgment of the circuit court of Cook county without remanding the cause.

The declaration filed consisted of four counts. The first count alleged that on February 26, 1915, the defendants, the Chicago Railways Company and others, were then and there the owners of and in possession, control and management of divers lines of street railways in Chicago, and had in their possession, use, control and management, for the purpose of operating the street railways, certain cars, machinery, power houses, tracks, switches and other devices and instrumentalities, and were engaged in the business of common carriers of passengers for hire; that on said date, at a point on the line of the street railway owned by the defendants on Cicero avenue, to-wit, at Harrison street, the plaintiff boarded one of the cars, paid his fare and received a transfer coupon for transfer at the intersection of Cicero avenue and Twelfth street; that by reason of the premises■ it then and there became the duty of defendants to use the highest degree of care to carry safely plaintiff in their cars to his place of destination and there deliver him uninjured, and to that end and for that purpose to exercise and use the highest degree of care and caution in the control, operation, management and state of repair of their cars, wheels, tracks, brakes, trucks and switches, but- therein the defendants wholly failed; that after the car in which plaintiff had been riding as a passenger arrived at the intersection of Twelfth street and Cicero avenue, and while he was proceeding as such passenger from said car to the proper place near the southwest corner of Twelfth street ánd Cicero avenue, there to wait for a car east-bound on Twelfth street to proceed on his journey, and while he was in the exercise of due care and caution for his own safety and without fault or negligence on his part, he was struck by, run" into and over by the defendants, who then and there so carelessly, negligently and improperly managed and operated said electric car that by reason thereof the car then and there left the- track and struck and collided with and ran with great force and violence into and upon the plaintiff, whereby he was then and there thrown with great force and violence upon the ground and was thereby greatly bruised, etc. Following the foregoing are allegations of injuries and damage.

The second count, after alleging ownership and control as in the first count and the duty of the defendants to exercise due care and caution in operating their cars so -as not to collide with or run into pedestrians then and there rightfully upon the public highway, charges that while the plaintiff was then and there standing upon and walking on Cicero avenue, going in a southeasterly direction at the intersection of said street with Twelfth street, in the public highway in Chicago, and while he was then and there in exercise of ordinary care and caution for his own safety, the defendants, through their servants in charge of one of said cars, so carelessly, negligently and improperly managed and operated the electric car that by reason thereof said car then and there struck, collided with and ran with great force and violence against and upon the plaintiff, etc.

The third count alleges ownership, etc., as set forth in .the first count, and that it was the duty of the defendants to keep said car and all the parts thereof, including the wheels, trucks, brakes and trolleys, in good and safe repair and condition, and to operate said car, and all parts thereof, with due skill, care and caution for the safety of others, yet defendants carelessly and negligently failed to keep said car in repair, so that the same did not work properly, and the defendants then and there so negligently, carelessly and improperly operated said car that by reason thereof and by reason of the premises the car collided with plaintiff.

The fourth count charges a defective track and that the switches and tracks were out of repair, and that by reason of the negligence of defendants in not keeping the same in repair, and the careless operation of the car, the plaintiff was injured.

To the four counts of the declaration the defendants in error filed the general issue, to which' a replication was filed by the plaintiff in error.

It is conceded and admitted by the plaintiff in error and the defendants in error that there is no contradiction in the testimony relative to the facts arid circumstances surrounding the happening of the accident in question. On the morning of the accident the plaintiff in error took the south-bound car of defendants in error on Cicero avenue, entering the same at Harrison street. His journey was to" Douglas boulevard and Turner avenue, which necessitated his transfer to another car of defendants in error going east, at the corner of Twelfth street and Cicero avenue. Upon boarding the car he paid his fare and called for and received from the conductor in charge a transfer which would entitle him to a continuous ride by transferring at Twelfth street and Cicero avenue to Douglas boulevard and Turner avenue. The car upon which he was riding came-to a complete stop upon the north side of Twelfth street. At this point the north and south-bound tracks of defendants in error on Cicero avenue intersected their east and west tracks on Twelfth street. A switch extended from the west side of the south-bound track on Cicero avenue to the north side of the west-bound track on Twelfth street, connecting said tracks. The front trucks of the car passed south over the switch before the car stopped. The plaintiff in error thereupon left the car, alighting at the rear end thereof, and started toward the southwest corner of the intersection, which was the usual and customary place for passengers to wait for cars going east, one of which cars would take him to his journey’s end. When he reached a point five or six feet west of the car and in the neighborhood of the north curb or crosswalk of Twelfth street the car from which he had alighted was started by the motorman, but instead of going south the rear end of the car suddenly swung around to the west, completely out of its course of travel, so that the end of the car almost touched the west curb of Cicero avenue, striking plaintiff in error and knocking him down. It is apparent from the evidence that after the front trucks had passed over the switch, for some reason not found in the evidence the switch had changed its position so as to guide the rear trucks onto the switch in a southwesterly direction, thereby throwing the car around, as above described, to such an extent that at the time of the injury to the plaintiff in error the car was in a position extending almost east and west. The plaintiff in error was removed to a hospital, where an examination disclosed a fracture of the clavicle or collar bone into three parts, one part of which (a little triangular piece) was directed downward and entirely out of line of the fractured ends. After being operated upon it was found that the plaintiff in error had developed an enlargement of the artery extending from the heart into the region of the collar bone.

The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in error in the sum of $5500. Motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment were overruled and an appeal was prayed and perfected to the Appellate Court for the First District by the defendants in error.

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Bluebook (online)
124 N.E. 334, 289 Ill. 25, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/feldman-v-chicago-railways-co-ill-1919.