Alden Speares Sons Co. v. Boston & M. R. R

• Decision Date: 06 December 1921
• Docket Number: No. 1779.,1779.
• Citation: 116 A. 343
• Parties: ALDEN SPEARES SONS CO. v. BOSTON & M. R. R.
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court

116 A. 343

ALDEN SPEARES SONS CO.

v. BOSTON & M. R. R.

No. 1779.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire. Grafton.

Dec. 6, 1921.

Action on the case for damage to a motor truck. Verdict for plaintiffs, and cause transferred on defendants' exceptions. Exceptions overruled.

The accident happened on a level crossing on Depot street, in Ashland. The freight-house and cars on the tracks in the Ashland yard obstructed the view to the north to such an extent that the men in charge of the truck could not see a train approaching from that direction, after they passed a point 60 or more feet from the crossing, until the front wheels of the truck were on the crossing. The crossing whistle was sounded, but the bell was not rung, and there was no flagman or automatic bell to warn travelers of the approach of a train. Transferred on the defendants' exception to the denial of their motion for a directed verdict, and to evidence.

Raymond U. Smith, of Woodsville, for plaintiffs.

Jewett & Jewett, of Laconia, and Alvin Burleigh, of Plymouth, for defendants.

YOUNG, J. It can be found that the ordinary man with the defendants' knowledge of the situation and its dangers would have done something more than they did to warn the plaintiffs' employees of the approach of the train, and that but for their failure in this respect the accident would not have happened. The defendants.' exception therefore must be overruled if it can be found that the men in charge of the truck were free from fault. The evidence relevant to that issue tends to prove that there were two men with the truck, and that when it was 100 or more feet from the crossing the driver reduced the speed to throe or four miles an hour, and proceeded at that rate until the front wheels were on the crossing. He sat on the left side of the truck, and looked toward the south to see if a train was approaching from that direction. As he approached the crossing, he saw a man he thought was the crossing tender; as that man did nothing to warn him of the approach of the train, he drove onto the crossing without stopping. The other man sat on the right-hand side of the truck, and looked toward the north to see if a train was approaching from that direction, but he neither saw nor heard the train until the front wheels of the truck were on the crossing. He instantly notified the driven, and the driver did what he could to increase the speed of the truck, but it was too late to prevent the accident.

In short, it can be found...