McCormick v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co.

104 N.W. 390, 141 Mich. 17, 1905 Mich. LEXIS 736
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 21, 1905
DocketDocket No. 97
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 104 N.W. 390 (McCormick v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co.) 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
McCormick v. Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railway Co., 104 N.W. 390, 141 Mich. 17, 1905 Mich. LEXIS 736 (Mich. 1905).

Opinion

Moore, C. J.

This is an action brought by Elizabeth McCormick to recover damages claimed to be sustained by her through falling on defendant’s station platform at Corunna about 6 o’clock on the evening of the 29th day of January, 1903. The depot stands north of the track. There are no windows on either the east or west ends. On the south side and near the west end is a window, and 9 feet east of this is a door. Five feet to the east of this door is the window in the operator’s room. These windows, which are about 5 feet in height and 2 feet 10 inches in width, are old style, with panes of glass in them either 8 x 12 or 6 x 12 inches in dimension. Between the depot and the company’s tracks is> a platform, running east and west, of some 120 feet in length. Right in front of the depot it is 22 feet in width, and consists of 8 feet of wood plank, then 6 feet of cinders, and then up to the track is another 8 feet of wood plank. It gradually becomes narrower as it runs west, and, after passing the end of the station, it runs west for some little distance at a width of 8 feet. North of this station platform, and at the west end of the wide portion, is the platform against which the omnibus backs to permit passengers to get out of or into the same. The plaintiff went to the depot in an omnibus in which there was a number of other passengers. The omnibus was backed against the steps of the platform. There were three of them, about 18 feet long and 1 foot wide, with a rise of from 4 to 6 inches each. These steps were constructed so that passengers might pass qver them in going to and from the omnibus. The steps on the rear end of the omnibus would strike against the depot platform if the platform steps had not been constructed. It is not claimed the platform or platform steps were defective, but it is [19]*19claimed the platform was not properly lighted. One or two passengers alighted from the omnibus. The plaintiff then alighted. It is her claim she stepped one side to get out of the way of the other passengers, and then attempted to go forward upon the platform, caught her foot under a plank, and fell, suffering severe injuries. She recovered a judgment against defendant. The case is brought here by writ of error.

There are a good many assignments of error, but they are discussed by counsel for defendant under the following heads:

(1) The defendant is only bound to exercise ordinary care to see that its depot premises are kept and maintained in a reasonably safe condition.
(2) That plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.
(3) That the jury, and not medical experts, should decide whether or not a person is simulating.
(4) That exclamations of pain and suffering, uttered long after the occurrence of an injury and suit has been begun, are not admissible in evidence.
(5) That the circuit judge should have set aside the verdict and granted a new trial, for the reasons assigned in defendant’s motion for a new trial.

We will discuss them in the same order.

1. It was the claim of plaintiff that there were no lights upon the platform, that any light which would reach it from the lamp in the front part of the omnibus was intercepted by the passengers who were following her out of the omnibus. It was the claim of defendant that the platform was ordinarily well lighted from the lamp in the omnibus, from the lamps in the station buildings, and from the electric lights in the street. The judge charged the jury:

“ It is the duty of the defendant to use a very high degree of care to make the place where it receives passengers safe and free from danger; and if the defendant has failed to so light its platform and to use such high degree of care in keeping the point at which it received its passen[20]*20gers safe, and if the plaintiff has been injured on account of such negligence, and without any fault on her part, then she would be entitled to recover, and your verdict would be for plaintiff.”

Counsel for plaintiff say this portion of the charge should be read in connection with the paragraphs which precede it, and that it was nothing more than saying that the care the ordinary person should use under like circumstances is a high degree of care. In Cross v. Railway Co., 69 Mich. 363, Justice Morse, speaking for the court, said:

“ This diagonal walk being a recognized way to and from the depot, it was the duty of the defendant to keep it reasonably safe. 1 Rorer on Railroads, 476; Smith on Negligence (2d Ed.), 126, 188; Cooley on Torts, 605; Delaney v. Railway Co., 33 Wis. 67; Hulbert v. Railroad Co., 40 N. Y. 145; Dillaye v. Railroad Co., 56 Barb. (N. Y) 30; Gaynor v. Railway Co., 100 Mass. 208; Tobin v. Railroad Co., 59 Me. 183; Hoffman v. Railroad Co., 75 N. Y. 605; Cartwright v. Railway Co., 52 Mich. 606.”

In Flagg v. Railway Co., 96 Mich. 30 (21 L. R. A. 835), Justice Long, speaking for the court, said:

“ The duty which the defendant owed to the plaintiff was to provide a reasonably safe place of ingress to and egress from its station. Negligence would mean the omission by the defendant to do something which persons conducting a railway with reasonable care and caution should do.”

See, also, Stewart v. Railway Co., 89 Mich. 315 (17 L. R. A. 539); Retan v. Railway Co., 94 Mich. 146; Hiatt v. Railway Co., 96 Iowa, 169; Robertson v. Railroad Co., 152 Mo. 382. We think the charge to the jury required too high a standard of care.

2. Can it be said as a matter of law that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence ? This contention of the defendant is based upon the claim that plaintiff knew all about the conditions at the platform and went forward without care. It would profit no one to state in detail the [21]*21testimony. An examination of the record satisfies us that the question of contributory negligence was one for the jury. Dundas v. City of Lansing, 75 Mich. 499 (5 L. R. A. 143); Argus v. Village of Sturgis, 88 Mich. 344; Graves v. City of Battle Creek, 95 Mich. 266 (19 L. R. A. 641); Sias v. Village of Reed City, 103 Mich. 312; Mackie v. City of West Bay City, 106 Mich. 244; Schwingschlegl v. City of Monroe, 113 Mich. 683; Grattan v. Village of Williamston, 116 Mich. 462.

3. Was there error in allowing the medical experts to express an opinion as to whether plaintiff was simulating ? The following occurred upon the trial:

Q. Dr. Kennedy, in your opinion, was or was not this woman simulating ?
“A. I do not think that this woman was simulating. * ❖ *
Q. Miss Graves, in the time you were nursing and caring for Mrs,. McCormick, state what you noticed, if anything, to indicate that she was not injured — that she was putting it on, malingering, or assuming it ?
“A. She was not. * * *
Q.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Oppenheim v. Pitcairn
292 N.W. 374 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1940)
Dean v. Yelloway Pioneer System, Inc.
259 Ill. App. 180 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1930)
Anda v. Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Co.
204 N.W. 761 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1925)
Davis v. South Side Elevated Railroad
127 N.E. 66 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1920)
Wiley v. Rutland Railroad
86 A. 808 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1913)
Marshall v. Wabash Railroad
137 N.W. 89 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1912)
Pere Marquette Railroad v. Strange
84 N.E. 819 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1908)
Judd v. Township of Caledonia
114 N.W. 346 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1907)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 N.W. 390, 141 Mich. 17, 1905 Mich. LEXIS 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccormick-v-detroit-grand-haven-milwaukee-railway-co-mich-1905.