Ascher v. H.E. Friedman, Inc.
| Decision Date | 10 July 1929 |
| Citation | 147 A. 263,110 Conn. 1 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | ASCHER v. H. E. FRIEDMAN, INC., ET AL. |
Appeal from Superior Court, Hartford County; Newell Jennings, Judge.
Action tried to the jury, by Marian D. Ascher against H. E Friedman, Incorporated, and others, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by reckless disregard of plaintiff's rights. Verdict for plaintiff and, from an order setting aside the verdict, plaintiff appeals. No error.
Joseph B. Griffin and Louis M. Schatz, both of Hartford, for appellant.
Warren Maxwell, of Hartford, for appellees.
Argued before WHEELER, C.J., and MALTBIE, HAINES, HINMAN, and BANKS JJ.
From the evidence offered upon the trial the jury might have reached the following conclusions: The plaintiff was a guest in a car driven by her sister. They had taken their families, including two children of the plaintiff and three of her sister's children, for a picnic. While they were having their picnic lunch, it suddenly grew dark and threatened a thunderstorm. The driver of the car was extremely nervous in a thunderstorm. They hastily put everything in the car and started for home. As they were approaching the house, they were proceeding at a rate of 25 to 30 miles an hour, and the plaintiff protested that they were going too fast, but the driver paid no attention. The house was upon the left-hand side of the street with a driveway into the yard. The driver was proceeding to the left of the center of the street and started to enter the driveway without slackening her speed. The right wheels of the car mounted the curb to the right of the entrance, and in an endeavor to correct her course, the driver swung too far to the left, ploughed through a flower bed, and crashed into a bay window of the house about 25 feet from the curb. The trial court set aside the verdict in favor of the plaintiff on the ground that her case, taken in its most favorable aspect, disclosed nothing more than a case of ordinary negligence on the part of the driver of the car.
Chapter 308 of the Public Acts of 1927 provides: " No person transported by the owner or operator of a motor vehicle as his guest without payment for such transportation shall have a cause of action for damages against such owner or operator for injury, death or loss, in case of accident, unless such accident shall have been intentional on the part of said owner or operator, or caused by his heedlessness or his reckless disregard of the rights of others." Section 1. In Silver v. Silver, 108 Conn. 371, 376, 143 A. 240, 242, we construed this statute to limit liability in such actions to two classes of cases: " First, when the accident...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Siesseger v. Puth
...Court of the United States and approved. See Silver v. Silver, 280 U. S. 117, 50 S. Ct. 57, 74 L. Ed. 221. In Ascher v. Friedman, Inc., et al. (1929) 110 Conn. 1, 147 A. 263, the court gives a statement of the facts as follows: “From the evidence offered upon the trial the jury might have r......
-
Wolf v. Holton
...the highest courts of Connecticut had placed upon it up to that time. Lee v. Scott, 177 S.E. 92, 50 Ga. App. 39. In Ascher v. H.E. Freeman, Inc., 110 Conn. 1, 147 Atl. 263 l.c. 264, the Supreme Court of Connecticut, in speaking of this statute, "Conduct indicating a reckless disregard of th......
-
Williamson v. McKenna
...of the rights of others', interpreted as meaning wilful misconduct.' Note, 18 Cornell L.Q. 621, 627, comparing Ascher v. H. E. Friedman, Inc., 1929, 110 Conn. 1, 147 A. 263 and Berman v. Berman, 1929, 110 Conn. 169, 147 A. 568 with Burke v. Cook, 1923, 246 Mass. 518, 141 N.E. 585 and Mannin......
-
Siesseger v. Puth
... ... May 20th of the same year and had driven it 2,367 miles. He ... had not driven a car prior to May 20th. The party left Mason ... 221, ... 50 S.Ct. 57 ... In ... Ascher v. Friedman (Conn.), 110 Conn. 1, 147 A. 263 ... (1929), the court gives ... ...