Stewart v. St. Paul City Railway Company

• Decision Date: 17 November 1899
• Docket Number: 11,744 - (64)
• Parties: ANNA L. STEWART v. ST. PAUL CITY RAILWAY COMPANY
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

80 N.W. 854

78 Minn. 85

ANNA L. STEWART v. ST. PAUL CITY RAILWAY COMPANY

Nos. 11,744 - (64)

Supreme Court of Minnesota

November 17, 1899

Action in the district court for Ramsey county to recover $3,500 damages for personal injuries. The case was tried before Bunn, J., and a jury, which rendered a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $300; and from an order denying a motion for a new trial, defendant appealed. Affirmed.

SYLLABUS

Street Railway -- Stopping Car for Passenger.

While a street-car company is not responsible for the condition of the streets on which it operates its cars, yet it is bound to exercise reasonable care to stop its cars for the discharge of passengers at a safe and proper place for that purpose.

Personal Injury -- Notice of Hole in Street.

Evidence held sufficient to justify the jury in finding that the defendant was chargeable with notice of a certain hole in the street, and was negligent in stopping its car in such close proximity to it that a passenger, in alighting in the dark was liable to step into it.

Munn & Thygeson, for appellant.

S. P Crosby, for respondent.

OPINION

MITCHELL, J.

This action was brought to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by the plaintiff by stepping in the nighttime into a hole in the street while alighting from one of defendant's cars. The negligence charged against the defendant consisted in its stopping its car at an unsafe place for plaintiff to alight in the dark. Her contention was that the hole was in such close proximity to the steps of the car that she stepped into it when in the act of alighting from the car. On the other hand, the defendant's contention was that the evidence as to the location of the hole conclusively showed that this was a physical impossibility; that plaintiff must have stepped into the hole after she had safely alighted from the car and taken several steps along the street, and that it is not responsible for the condition of the streets.

A street-railway company is not responsible for the condition of the streets on which it operates its cars, but it is bound to exercise proper care to stop its cars for the discharge of passengers at a safe and suitable place for that purpose. The evidence as to the length of time this hole in the street had existed, and the length of time the defendant had been accustomed to stop its cars at this same place, was sufficient to justify the jury in...