Blood v. Adams
| Decision Date | 31 December 1929 |
| Parties | BLOOD v. ADAMS. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Exceptions from Superior Court, Middlesex County; Winfred H. Whiting, Judge.
Action by Elizabeth L. Blood against Alpheus R. Adams. Verdict for plaintiff, and defendant brings exceptions. Exceptions overruled.
Automobiles k245(24)-Gross negligence of motorist driving automobile, in which plaintiff was guest, off road on left-hand side into tree, held for jury.
In action for injuries received by plaintiff while riding as an invited guest in automobile owned and driven by defendant early in morning, question whether defendant was guilty of gross negligence in driving with eyes closed or yielding to sleep and permitting automobile to go off road on left-hand side of street and strike tree held for jury.
F. J. Johnson, of Boston, for plaintiff.
L. C. Doyle and A. E. Bent, both of Boston, for defendant.
This is an action of tort to recover damages for personal injuries, received by the plaintiff while riding as an invited guest in an automobile owned and driven by the defendant, in Milton, Massachusetts, early in the morning of June 22, 1926. At the conclusion of the plaintiff's evidence the defendant rested and duly moved in writing that the judge direct a verdict for the defendant. The motion was denied and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. The case comes before this court, with all the material evidence, on the exception of the defendant to the denial of the motion for a directed verdict.
The sole issue presented is, Were the injuries sustained by the plaintiff caused by the gross negligence of the defendant? The facts most favorable to the plaintiff shortly stated are as follows: At about six-thirty in the evening of June 21, 1926, the defendant, with a new automobile, called for the plaintiff at her residence in Brookline, Massachusetts, for the purpose of taking her to ride, and the plaintiff accepted the invitation. Without any material incident the plaintiff drove the automobile to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they had dinner. Sometime after 11:30 P. M. they started on their return home. The plaintiff operated the automobile until sometime after midnight to a place called Hanover Four Corners, where it was stopped and the defendant alighted for the purpose of looking at the sign-board. On his return to the automobile he took the steering wheel. Centre Street, Milton, the scene fo the accident, is a narrow road with large trees, and a stone wall along one side, and was lighted that night with street lights. The automobile, as driven by the defendant, went off the road on the lefthand side of the...
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...that he was not paying attention to his driving. It does not appear that the operator was asleep or had closed his eyes, as in Blood v. Adams (Mass.) 169 N. E. 412 (cf. Shriear v. Feigelson, supra), or had been drinking intoxicating liquor, as in Learned v. Hawthorne (Mass.) 169 N. E. 557, ......
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... ... Decisions ... in other jurisdictions are to like effect. Ryan v ... Scanlon, 117 Conn. 428, 168 A. 17; Blood v ... Adams, 269 Mass. 480, 169 N.E. 412; Manser v ... Eder, 263 Mich. 107, 248 N.W. 563; Marks v ... Marks, 308 Ill.App. 276, 31 N.E.2d 399; ... ...
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