Melton v. St. Louis Public Service Co.

251 S.W.2d 663, 363 Mo. 474, 1952 Mo. LEXIS 670
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedOctober 13, 1952
Docket42679
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 251 S.W.2d 663 (Melton v. St. Louis Public Service Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Melton v. St. Louis Public Service Co., 251 S.W.2d 663, 363 Mo. 474, 1952 Mo. LEXIS 670 (Mo. 1952).

Opinions

[479]*479VAN OSDOL, C.

In this action to recover damages in the sum of $45,000 for personal injuries, the jury returned a verdict for defendant, and plaintiff has appealed from the ensuing judgment. Plaintiff was injured when he, a pedestrian, and defendant’s street-ear collided at the northwest corner of the intersection of defendant’s Hodiamont streetcar tracks and Union Boulevard in St. Louis.

Plaintiff declared upon negligence under the Vigilant Watch Ordinance of the City of St. Louis, and under the humanitarian rule. Defendant by answer denied negligence on its part and affirmatively stated plaintiff was contributorily negligent in going toward and against a moving streetcar when he saw or by the exercise of ordinary care could have seen or heard the approach of the moving car. The [480]*480trial court was of the opinion plaintiff was contributorily negligent as a matter of law, and refused to submit the issue of primary negligence under the Vigilant Watch Ordinance. However, plaintiff’s ease was submitted on the hypothesis of negligence of defendant under the humanitarian rule in failing tó stop the streetcar or give a warning of its approach after defendant’s operator “saw or by the exercise of ordinary care on his part could have seen plaintiff in such position of imminent peril and oblivious thereof. ’ ’

Defendant’s Hodiamont streetcar tracks approach and intersect Union Boulevard in St. Louis. The streetcar tracks run in a general east-west direction, although at the intersection and continuing eastwardly [666] from the intersection the tracks curve slightly to the southward; however, the tracks actually intersect the west side of the boulevard, a north-south street, at an approximate right angle. Defendant’s westbound streetcars stop at the east side of Union, and proceed across the boulevard. At the intersection Union Boulevard is 60' 2" from curb to curb. There was evidence that the distance one can see east of Union is approximately one-hundred-fifty to two-hundred feet.

The respective factual versions of how the casualty occurred as disclosed by the evidence introduced by plaintiff and defendant are diametrically opposed.

Plaintiff testified that he drove his automobile northwardly on Union and across the Hodiamont tracks about 9:00 o ’clock the evening of July 24, 1948. He stopped and parked his automobile at the east curb of Union and just north of the tracks. His wife and her cousin were accompanying him, but they did not get out of the car. Plaintiff was intending to buy a newspaper at a newsstand on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of the intersection. Plaintiff, having got out of the left-hand side of his automobile, “turned south toward the car line. ’ ’ He stated it was customary for pedestrians to use the streetcar tracks in crossing Union Boulevard' at that point. The ‘ ‘ automobile traffic is heavy. ’ ’ He walked ten or fifteen feet to within twelve or eighteen inches of the north rail of the westbound track. He saw no westbound streetcar. He then walked across Union twelve or eighteen inches north of the north rail of the north (westbound) track. He stayed “close to the tracks for as much protection” as he could get from automobiles on Union which were warned to stop at the Hodiamont tracks by “stop signs” situate on Union north and south of the tracks. He walked in a comparatively straight line “following the north rail of this track.” Pie crossed the street; approached and stepped upon the curb; and advanced two or three feet west from the curb when he was hit in the “left and back side” by the front right-hand corner of defendant’s westbound streetcar, and injured. ‘When he was hit, he had not turned to his left. “I didn’t walk south on the west sidewalk.” Plaintiff was familiar with the [481]*481intersection — had been there many times before. When he had got out of his automobile, had walked to the tracks, and started walking across Union, he did not turn to the left to “look particularly to see” if there was any streetcar .approaching from the eastward; but if there had been a streetcar “within fifty or seventy-five feet, why, I would have seen it. ’ ’ After he had started walking westwarclly along the north (westbound) track, and twelve or eighteen inches north of the north rail thereof, he “didn’t look'back.” He walked along the track to be protected from automobile traffic. He did not think ‘ ‘ of the possibility of being struck by streetcar traffic. ’ ’

Defendant introduced evidence tending to refute plaintiff’s testimony that he walked closely along and in dangerous proximity to the north rail of the north streetcar track. Defendant’s operator testified that he made a stop on the east side of Union, and then proceeded across the boulevard at a speed of five to eight miles per hour; the headlight was on; the gong was sounding; the operator was looking, but he saw nobody near the tracks in front of the car. Defendant’s evidence tended to prove that plaintiff had crossed Union north of the streetcar tracks and at a safe distance therefrom, and had turned to his left, walked southwardly on the west sidewalk of Union, and “blindly” into the right (north) side of defendant’s streetcar, coming into contact with the side of the car somewhat to the rear of the front doors.

Herein upon appeal plaintiff-appellant contends (1) the trial court erred in refusing to give Instruction C proffered by plaintiff, which instruction hypothesized defendant’s primary negligence in violating the Vigilant Watch Ordinance — it is contended that the question of contributory negligence was a jury question. Plaintiff-appellant further contends (2) that the court erred in giving Instruction No. 2, an instruction withdrawing the issue of defendant’s negligence under the Vigilant Watch Ordinance; (3) that the court erred in admitting hearsay evidence contained in a hospital record; and the court erred (4) in giving defendant’s Instruction No. 4. 'It is said by plaintiff-appellant that Instruction [667] No. 4 was misleading, and injected a false issue into the trial of the case.

(I) In.our opinion the trial court did not err in ruling that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. Plaintiff, by his own testimony, demonstrated his failure to exercise ordinary care for his own safety when he approached and passed along defendant’s track in such close proximity to the track that he should have known he was in danger. The defendant’s streetcar track itself was a warning of danger. Plaving alighted from his automobile, plaintiff walked near the north rail of the north track and, with no more than a mere casual glance to his left, observing the streetcar tracks only fifty or seventy-five feet to the eastward, turned right and walked westwarclly across the street in dangerous proximitv to the [482]*482track. Before he turned right and walked westwardly, he did not look to the eastward for oncoming westbound streetcars within the full distance of one-hundred-fifty to two-hundred feet throughout which distance he had a view of defendant’s streetcar tracks. Had he done so he no doubt would have seen the oncoming streetcar. He did not again look for streetcars; in fact, he was not even thinking of being endangered by streetcar traffic. It is true that this court does not judicially know of the extent of “overhang” of a streetcar, but this court does know that a streetcar, a train or locomotive is wider than the track. Hunt v. Chicago, M., St. P. & P. R. Co., 359 Mo. 1089, 225 S.W. 2d 738; Taylor v. Missouri, K. & T. R. Co., 357 Mo. 1086, 212 S.W. 2d 412. This is no more than common knowledge.

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Bluebook (online)
251 S.W.2d 663, 363 Mo. 474, 1952 Mo. LEXIS 670, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melton-v-st-louis-public-service-co-mo-1952.