Brooks v. Bi-State Development Agency

Decision Date13 March 1990
Docket NumberNo. 72019,BI-STATE,72019
Citation787 S.W.2d 713
PartiesLillie Mae BROOKS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, Defendant-Respondent.
CourtMissouri Supreme Court

Elbert A. Walton, Jr., St. Louis, for plaintiff-appellant.

Paul J. Passanante, Joan M. Tanner, Alif A. Williams, Harold L. Whitfield, St. Louis, for defendant-respondent.

BLACKMAR, Chief Justice.

The plaintiff had a verdict for a slip and fall on the steps of a bus from which she was alighting. The trial court sustained the defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict but denied its motion for new trial. The court of appeals affirmed. We granted transfer and, taking the case as on initial appeal, reverse and remand for a new trial.

The accident occurred about 10:00 A.M. on February 27, 1984. Snow had been falling for two hours. The driver had placed salt on the steps at the beginning of the run. Snow continued to fall during the run. The plaintiff did not see anything on the steps before or after she fell, but a passenger seated in the first seat facing the driver on the right-hand side testified that she saw "snow and salt" at the time the plaintiff left the bus, and a police officer who arrived soon after the fall observed "snow and water on the steps." It is interesting that the driver testified on deposition that "the company policy is, we say less as possible to the police officers, if the supervisor is not there."

The plaintiff's verdict directing instruction reads as follows:

Your verdict must be for plaintiff if you believe:

First, there was snow on the steps or floor of defendant's bus and as a result the floor or steps were not reasonably safe for passengers, and

Second, plaintiff did not know and by using ordinary care could not have known of this condition, and

Third, defendant knew or by using ordinary care could have known of this condition, and

Fourth, defendant failed to use ordinary care to remove it or to warn of it, and

Fifth, as a direct result of such failure, plaintiff was injured.

The phrase "ordinary care" as used in this instruction means that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances.

The trial judge accompanied his ruling with a memorandum opinion in which he concluded that the defendant had no duty to keep the steps free of snow and ice during a snow storm, citing Swiastyn v. St. Joseph Light & Power Company, 459 S.W.2d 24 (Mo.App.1970).

The verdict director submitted, disjunctively, negligence in failing to remove snow and in failing to warn of the danger. The plaintiff virtually concedes that the defendant could not be expected to remove snow as it fell, and now concentrates on the duty to warn. We agree that the Swiastyn case is on point on the duty to remove and believe that it states sound law. See also Serritos v. Chicago Transit Authority, 153 Ill.App.3d 265, 106 Ill.Dec. 243, 505 N.E.2d 1034 (1987); Bray v. D.C. Transit Authority System, Inc., 179 A.2d 387 (D.C.1962). Inasmuch as the verdict director submitted a ground of negligence that is not legally supportable, it was erroneously given.

We conclude, however, that the plaintiff was entitled to submit her case to the jury on a theory of failure to warn. This issue was not submitted in Swiastyn. The jury could conclude that the snow and salt seen by the passenger from her position on the bus could also be seen by the driver. The dangers from accumulated snow on the steps are patent, and the carrier has a duty to warn of known dangerous conditions. 1 The jury could also infer that the snow on the step caused the fall. It could conclude from the evidence that there was a dangerous condition, known or knowable by the defendant, which should have been the subject of a warning.

The defendant suggests that the...

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7 cases
  • Bath Excavating & Const. Co. v. Wills, 91SC522
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • March 15, 1993
  • Stevens v. Kliethermes
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • June 18, 1991
    ...of damages. In that posture of the case, the remand will be for a retrial on the issue of comparative fault only. Brooks v. Bi-State Development Agency, 787 S.W.2d 713, 715 (Mo. banc 1990) (no need to retry issue as to which no claim of error is The judgment on Ardys' claim awarding her the......
  • Leonard v. Golden Touch Transp. of N.Y., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey
    • December 12, 2018
    ...Buchner, 17 N.J. at 286. Courts have recognized that bus stairs may become dangerous conditions due to snow, Brooks v. Bi-State Dev. Agency, 787 S.W.2d 713, 715 (Mo. 1990), ice, Marley v. New England Transp. Co., 133 Conn. 586, 589 (1947), slush, Anderson v. Transit Auth. of City of Omaha, ......
  • Anderson v. Transit Authority of City of Omaha
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • October 23, 1992
    ...of its passengers. Furthermore, it is a carrier's duty to warn passengers of known dangerous conditions, see Brooks v. Bi-State Development Agency, 787 S.W.2d 713 (Mo.1990). Such a warning may be accomplished through a simple sign which would serve to alert passengers of hazards which might......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Section 8 Negligence Actions for Personal Injury
    • United States
    • The Missouri Bar Damages Deskbook Chapter 22 Apportionment of Damages
    • Invalid date
    ...addressed to the jury in a premises liability case through a comparative negligence submission. Brooks v. Bi-State Dev. Agency, 787 S.W.2d 713, 715 (Mo. banc 1990).2. Products...

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