Patton v. Standard Oil Co.

67 N.E.2d 71, 45 Ohio Law. Abs. 321, 1946 Ohio App. LEXIS 777
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 4, 1946
DocketNo. 20083
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 67 N.E.2d 71 (Patton v. Standard Oil Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patton v. Standard Oil Co., 67 N.E.2d 71, 45 Ohio Law. Abs. 321, 1946 Ohio App. LEXIS 777 (Ohio Ct. App. 1946).

Opinions

OPINION

By SKEEL, P. J.

This appeal on questions of law is taken from a judgment of the common pleas court wherein, at the conclusion of the plaintiff’s case, the court directed the jury to return a verdict for the defendant.

The plaintiff’s amended petition alleges that on the 7th day of June, 1940, and for some time prior thereto, the defendant was the owner of a vacant parcel of ground at the southeast corner of Lorain Avenue and West 130th Street in the City of Cleveland. That some time prior to said date, the defendant placed four large cylindrical gasoline tanks on the lot which were to be used as a part of the equipment for a gasoline station to be erected on said lot. The tanks were placed in close proximity to each other and were not in any [322]*322manner fastened, braced or secured. The; largest tank weighed about 3409 pounds and was placed against and parallel to a fence running along the south line of the property which fence separated the defendant’s property and the playground of o. public school which school faces on the east side of West 130th Street. The westerly end of this tank was from 15 to 20 feet east of the east sidewalk line of West 130th Street. The tank which deceased was rolling at the time of his death, as hereinafter described, and which weighed 2320 pounds, had been placed perpendicular to and against the west end of the tank next to the fence. Another tank weighing 1150 pounds had been placed immediately to the east of 2320 pound tank and was against and parallel with the tank first described. The fourth tank weighing 1150 pounds was placed perpendicular to the fence and was against the easterly end of the first and third tanks above described:

The plaintiff’s decedent, a boy of about fifteen years of age, together with two other boys, were on the evening of June 7, 1940, playing on and about these tanks. The decedent got upon the one which was parallel to West 130th Street (the second tank above described) and moved it toward West 130th Street (in the manner of log rolling), when he had gotten almost to West 130th Street he reversed his direction and started back toward the other tanks. As he came near the place from which he had started he attempted to jump from the rolling tank to the end of the smaller tank just to the east. He missed his step and fell in front, of the tank he had-just left which continued to roll, whereby the decedent was crushed and as a result he died within a few hours.

The plaintiff alleges there was a slope of the ground where the tanks were placed and that because the tanks could be easily moved, were of great weight and close to a much travelled public highway, and were placed on premises where children were accustomed to play, and adjacent to a school play ground, they constituted a dangerous condition to pedestrians and school children and as there placed constituted a nuisance and a trap. The plaintiff further claims that the defendant knew, or, by the exercise of ordinary care, should have known that under the 'circumstances children would make use of the tanks as a place to play and failed to secure the tanks or prevent the children from playing thereon, and its negligence in this regard was the direct and proximate cause of decedent’s death.

The defendant’s answer denies negligence on its part and alleges that the negligence of the deceased proximately contributed to his death. The plaintiff filed a reply denying negligence on the part of the decedent.

[323]*323Upon trial, the plaintiff produced ’evidence describing the lot, the position of the tanks and the manner in which the decedent met his death. The parties further stipulated in part as follows.

“1. From February 20, 1940, until the present time and on June 7,1940. The Standard Oil Co., was and is the owner of a corner lot located on the southeast corner of Lorain Avenue and West 130th Street in the City of Cleveland, Ohio.

2. On May 29, 1940, there were delivered to The Standard Oil Company upon these premises four cylindrical underground storage tanks, weighing respectively 3490 pounds, 2320 pounds, 1150 pounds and 1150 pounds which The Standard Oil Company intended to have installed underground as storage tanks for the purpose of storing gasoline or other petroleum products. Said tanks were located upon said premises on the date of June 7, 1940.

3. On June 7, 1940, plaintiff’s decedent, Martin F. Patton, Clifford Scott and John MeFadden, on their way to attend an evening movie show, came upon said premises of the defendant, The Standard Oil Company at about 8:45 o’clock P. M., climbed upon said tanks which were then upon the premises and began to move the tanks by standing thereon and making them revolve in the manner of “log rolling.” While the boys were in the process of rolling one or more tanks, Martin F. Patton, plaintiff’s decedent, in attempting to jump from one rolling tank to another, missed his jump and fell to the ground and was crushed to death by the tank from which he had jumped.”

Thereupon plaintiff, after further evidence as to the next of kin, (this being an action for wrongful death) rested his case and upon motion by the defendant the court directed the jury to return a verdict for the defendant.

It is the contention of the plaintiff that because of the proximity of the tanks to the public highway and the playground of a public school, and because children were accustomed to play upon the vacant lot and because the tanks could be moved easily and because of the defendant’s failure to fasten the tanks to the ground or to take positive steps to prevent children from playing thereon, it was guilty of negligence which was the proximate cause of the death of decedent.

From the undisputed facts developed by the evidence and the stipulation, the tanks as delivered to the property did not create a dangerous situation. Their delivery was for a [324]*324lawful purpose and so* long a,s they were not disturbed by trespassers, an entirely static condition prevailed.

Situations like this have been presented to the courts of Ohio on a number of occasions, but in no case under facts similar to those here presented has liability been imposed upon the property owner. To hold otherwise would place an unwarranted burden upon the occupant of private property. One could not safely deliver building materials to his property without becoming liable to trespassers seeking to misuse his property and materials.

The supreme court in the case of Railroad Co. v Harvey, and Swartz v Akron Water Works Co., 77 Oh St 234, said in the first paragraph of the syllabus:

“1. It is not the duty of an occupier of land to exercise care to make it safe for infant children who come upon it without invitation but merely by-sufferance.”

And in the body of the opinion, beginning on page 248, quoting in part from an opinion of Judge Cooley in Powers v Harlow, 53 Michigan 507, we find:

.“That a landowner is under no obligation to use care to protect a trespasser, is a broad and until recently undisputed rule without exceptions; liability for injuries sustained by such, being limited to cases of intentional or wanton injuries. The rule with this limitation, is sustained today by the great weight of authority.” “It is contended by some law writers and it has been held in some cases, that an exception exists in favor of children of tender years.

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Bluebook (online)
67 N.E.2d 71, 45 Ohio Law. Abs. 321, 1946 Ohio App. LEXIS 777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patton-v-standard-oil-co-ohioctapp-1946.