Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Corbitt

• Decision Date: 16 December 1920
• Docket Number: 1984.
• Citation: 105 S.E. 358,150 Ga. 747
• Parties: ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. v. CORBITT.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

105 S.E. 358

150 Ga. 747

ATLANTIC COAST LINE R. CO. v. CORBITT.

No. 1984.

Supreme Court of Georgia

December 16, 1920

Syllabus by the Court.

The facts stated in the petition, taken as true (as they must be when tested by general demurrer), fail to show negligence by the defendant, and the petition was properly dismissed. The judgment of the Court of Appeals (102 S.E. 464), reversing that of the trial court, was erroneous.

Certiorari from Court of Appeals.

Action by W. T. Corbitt, next friend of Homer Corbitt, against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. A judgment for the defendant was reversed by the Court of Appeals (102 S.E 464), and defendant brings certiorari. Judgment of the Court of Appeals reversed.

Wilson & Bennett, of Waycross, and Bennet, Twitty & Reese, of Brunswick, for plaintiff in error.

Parker & Parker and Parks, Reed & Garrett, all of Waycross, for defendant in error.

GILBERT J.

W. T Corbitt, as next friend of his minor son, Homer Corbitt, a child six years of age, brought suit for personal injuries against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant was negligent in leaving and placing what is known as a "velocipede car" in an open and exposed place near the depot in the town of Manor, where the public were accustomed to travel and be, and where the small children of the town were at liberty to go and where they frequently went. He charged negligence upon the part of the defendant in leaving such dangerous and attractive machine unfastened, uninclosed, and unguarded in a public place near the heart of the town, where it was easily accessible to children, and in failing to fasten it securely so that it could not be moved backward and forward; that while it was fastened with a lock and chain, the slack in the chain permitted its forward and backward movement, with slight effort, for a distance of "from 2 to 2 1/2 feet," rendering the gearing and machinery dangerous to children who might be near by; that the car was most attractive to children, because of its similarity in principle to a bicycle or velocipede, a universal plaything of children; that it was painted in bright, attractive colors; that in trying to play with the velocipede car the boy caught his hands in the cogs and gearing, and his right hand was badly crushed and mashed, and bones broken, resulting in permanent injury and loss of the thumb. The defendant company filed a general and special demurrer. The general demurrer was sustained, and upon writ of error to the Court of Appeals this judgment...