Beaudet v. Boston & M.R.R.
| Decision Date | 10 April 1957 |
| Citation | 131 A.2d 65,101 N.H. 4 |
| Parties | Henri BEAUDET v. BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD. Henri BEAUDET, Ex'r, v. BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Craig & Craig, Manchester (William H. Craig, Jr., Manchester, orally), for plaintiffs.
Sheehan, Phinney, Bass, Green & Bergevin and Richard A. Morse, Manchester, for defendant.
The 'ordinary standard of care required of carriers toward passengers is a high one.' Wright v. Boston & M. Railroad, 83 N.H. 136, 140, 139 A. 370, 372, 56 A.L.R. 975. A common carrier of passengers for hire must use great caution to protect them consistent with the pratical operation of the business. Prosser, Torts (2nd ed. 1955) 147. There 'is general agreement that the reasonable man engaged in the public transportation business would recognize the great potential dangers which attend rapid transit and would take all practicable precautions to guard his passengers against them.' 2 Harper and James, The Law of Torts (1956) § 16.14. However a common carrier is not an insurer of the dafety of passengers and its liability for injuries to a passenger is based on negligence. Boucher v. Boston & M. Railroad, 76 N.H. 91, 79 A. 993, 34 L.R.A.,N.S., 728.
In the absence of any apparent necessity for assistance to a passenger in boarding or alighting from a train, the carrier is under no duty to furnish it. Shipman v. United Electric Railways Co., 68 R.I. 39, 26 A.2d 478. Special circumstances, however, may place a duty on the carrier to render personal assistance. Wheeler v. Grand Trunk Railway Co., 70 N.H. 607, 50 A. 103, 54 L.R.A. 955. If a conductor offers to assist a physically handicapped person to alight from a train but the assistance is inadequate, the carrier is liable for the resulting injuries. Foss v. Boston & M. Railroad, 66 N.H. 256, 21 A. 222, 11 L.R.A. 367. If the place where the passenger alights is dangerous, a duty of assistance by the carrier arises. Wilson v. Berlin Street Railway, 84 N.H. 285, 286, 149 A. 602. When the passenger is blind or otherwise incapacitated, the carrier is under a duty to render assistance in alighting from the train if assistance is requested or the carrier has knowledge that it is necessary. Ingerson v. Grand Trunk Railway, 79 N.H. 154, 106 A. 488. While some jurisdictions hold that the duty of assistance arises if the carrier should have known of its necessity (note 14 N.C.C.A. (n.s.) 219), that is not the law in this state. 'To charge the railroad with greater care in his case it must appear the defendants knew his condition, not merely that they ought to have known it or could have learned it by care.' Ingerson v. Grand Trunk Railway, supra, 79 N.H. at page 158, 106 A. at page 490.
In the present case it is undisputed that neither the plaintiff, her husband, nor anyone in their behalf requested assistance in alighting from the train in Manchester. So far as appears from the evidence the plaintiff had capable and sufficient assistance and requested no other. The only duty the carrier had toward the plaintiff was to render assistance if it knew that it was necessary. The fact that the plaintiff...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Murray v. Boston & M.R.R.
...assistance was not forthcoming, even though it did not know that any help was needed. Such is not our law. Beaudet v. Boston & Maine Railroad, 101 N.H. 4, 131 A.2d 65; Ingerson v. Grand Trunk Railway, 79 N.H. 154, 158, 106 A. 488. The Court's charge as given, relating to the point raised by......
-
Yu v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co.
...Cent. Ry. Co. v. Cruse, 123 Ky. 463, 471, 96 S.W. 821; Southern Pac. Co. v. Buntin, 54 Ariz. 180, 186, 94 P.2d 639; Beaudet v. Boston & M. R. R., 101 N.H. 4, 131 A.2d 65. It is true that a carrier may not be held to a duty to assist a passenger to alight, even in the case of one with an obv......
-
Price v. Canadian Airlines, Civ. 01-CV-155-JM.
...use a high degree of care for their safety, including while moving food carts throughout the plane. See e.g., Beaudet v. Boston & Maine R.R., 101 N.H. 4, 5, 131 A.2d 65, 66 (1957) ("A common carrier of passengers for hire must use great caution to protect them consistent with the practical ......
-
Allen v. State
...circumstances, but it has also been said that in the absence of 'apparent necessity,' assistance is not required. Beaudet v. Boston & Maine Railroad, 101 N.H. 4, 5, 131 A.2d 65. We think it would have been error for the Judge to have instructed the jury that assistance and instructions were......