Radley v. Columbia Railway Co.

75 P. 212, 44 Or. 332, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 23
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 8, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 75 P. 212 (Radley v. Columbia Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Radley v. Columbia Railway Co., 75 P. 212, 44 Or. 332, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 23 (Or. 1904).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Bean,

after stating the facts in the foregoing terms, delivered the opinion of the court.

1. There were many points discussed by counsel at the argument and in the briefs, but the controversy centers around the question as to whether the plaintiff was a passenger at the time of the accident, and entitled to the rights and protection of such, and, if so, whether he is guilty of such contributory negligence in riding on the engine as will bar a recovery. There is no contention that he was a passenger because of anything said or done by the engineer. It is admitted by the plaintiff that the engineer had no authority to bind the defendant by inviting plaintiff to ride on his engine, or to create the relation of passenger and carrier between him and defendant. It is argued, however, that plaintiff was a passenger, because (1) he was riding on the engine with the knowledge of, and without objection from, the conductor; and (2) he went to the station on the morning of the accident, intending to take passage on the train, and was directed by the station agent of the defendant where to go to board the train. There is no pretense that the plaintiff was on the engine by the express invitation, direction, or permission of the conductor. It is only sought to infer from the testimony and [335]*335surrounding circumstances that the conductor probably knew that he was aboard the engine, although such an inference is hardly warranted by the testimony. But even if the conductor had knowledge of the fact, it was not sufficient to make him a passenger. The train was about to start at the time the plaintiff boarded the engine; the signal had already been given; and it was not the duty of the conductor to delay the departure of the train, or to stop it after it had started, before reaching the next station, to put the plaintiff off, in order to prevent him from becoming a passenger: Downey v. Railway Co. 28 W. Va. 732 ; Atchinson, T. & S. F. R. Co. v. Headland, 18 Colo. 477 (33 Pac. 185, 20 L. R. A. 822). Again, the company had provided a car attached to the train for the carriage of passengers, and the plaintiff had knowledge of that fact. The mere silent acquiescence of the conductor in his riding on an engine would therefore not make him a passenger: 4 Elliott, Railroads, § 1580; Virginia Mid. R. Co. v. Roach, 83 Va. 375 (5 S. E. 175).

A conductor, of course, has charge of the train, and has authority to assign passengers to cars and seats. Ordinarily, if he directs a passenger to take a certain place on the train, the passenger may obey him without losing his status as a passenger, or being guilty of contributory negligence, as a matter of law, unless, perhaps, the place is so obviously unsafe and dangerous that no reasonably prudent person would consent to occupy it, even if directed to do so. But a conductor’s mere knowledge that a person is riding at an unsuitable or exposed place on the train, or one he knows is not designed for carrying passengers, does not make the person a passenger, or charge the carrier with that high degree of care toward him which it owes to one whom it has accepted and agreed to transport as a passenger. Where one has, by entering a car provided by a railway company for that ¡mrpose, become in fact a pas[336]*336senger, he perhaps does not lose such status by assuming a dangerous position on the train, assigned him by the direction or consent of the employes in charge thereof, although under such circumstances he may even be guilty in some instances of such contributory negligence as would preclude a recovery: 3 Thompson, Neg. § 2671; Brown v. Scarboro, 97 Ala. 316 (12 South. 289); Willmot v. Corrigan Consol. St. Ry. Co. 106 Mo. 535 (17 S. W. 490); Lake Shore & M. S. Ry. Co. v. Brown, 123 Ill. 162 (14 N. E. 197, 5 Am. St. Rep. 510); Indianapolis & St. L. R. Co. v. Horst, 93 U. S. 291. Before this principle can apply, however, he must first become a passenger, and he does not assume that relationship by voluntarily boarding an engine, which is obviously not designed for the carriage of passengers : McGucken v. Western N. Y. & P. R. Co. 77 Hun, 69 (28 N. Y. Supp. 298); Virginia Mid. R. Co. v. Roach, 83 Va. 375 (5 S. E. 175); Robertson v. New York & Erie R. Co. 22 Barb. 91. The plaintiff, therefore, did not become a passenger by riding on the engine with the silent acquiescence of, and without objection from, the conductor, even if the evidence is sufficient to sustain his position on this point.

2. Nor did he become a passenger on the train because he went to the station for that purpose. Where one goes to a railway station ata reasonable time before the departure of a train for the purpose of traveling thereon, he may be regarded as a passenger in so far as it may relate to an injury received through the negligence or carelessness of the company while in or about the station or attempting to board the train : Allender v. Chicago, R. I. & Pac. R. Co. 37 Iowa, 264; Grimes v. Pennsylvania Co. (C. C.) 36 Fed. 72; Warren v. Fitchburg R. Co. 8 Allen 227 (85 Am. Dec. 700); Exton v. Central R. Co. 62 N. J. Law, 7 (42 Atl. 486). The plaintiff, however, was not injured at the station, but while riding on the train eight or ten miles distant therefrom; and the duty of the company to him must be determined [337]*337by the relation he bore to it on the train, and not while he was at the station. One does not become a passenger on a railway train until he has come under the charge of the carrier by boarding, or attempting to board, at its invitation, a car thereof used or held out by it for the transportation of passengers. The relation of passenger and carrier is one of contract, and requires the assent of both parties. To become a passenger, one must put himself in charge of the carrier, with the bona fide intention of being carried, and the carrier must receive and accept him as such : 4 Elliott, Railroads, § 1579; 5 Am. & Eng. Enc. Law, (2 ed.) 488; Webster v. Fitchburg R. Co. 161 Mass. 298 (37 N. E. 165, 24 L. R. A. 521); Illinois Cent. R. Co. v. O’Keefe, 168 Ill. 115 (48 N. E. 294, 39 L. R. A. 148, 61 Am. St. Rep. 68). Of course there is hardly ever any formal act by the passenger in putting himself in the care of the carrier, or by the carrier in accepting him as a passenger, but these relations are commonly implied from the circumstances. The railway company holds itself out as ready to receive as passengers all who are willing to be governed by its rules and regulations, and who present themselves at a proper place, at a proper time, and in a proper manner. By providing certain cars attached to a train for the carrying of passengers, the company impliedly invites all persons desiring to be transported to enter such cars, and one who accepts such invitation in good faith becomes a passenger without any further act on the part of the company. The providing of such cars, however, manifests an intention on the part of the company not to accept a person as a passenger who in boarding the train voluntarily enters one of its cars or vehicles which is obviously not intended for the carriage of passengers, even though he may have been at the station for the purpose of traveling on the train, and has a ticket entitling him to ride.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 P. 212, 44 Or. 332, 1904 Ore. LEXIS 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/radley-v-columbia-railway-co-or-1904.