Dowdell v. Beasley

• Decision Date: 22 April 1919
• Docket Number: 3 Div. 323 [*]
• Citation: 82 So. 40,17 Ala.App. 100
• Parties: DOWDELL et al. v. BEASLEY.
• Court: Alabama Court of Appeals

82 So. 40

17 Ala.App. 100

DOWDELL et al. v. BEASLEY.

3 Div. 323 ^[*]

Court of Appeals of Alabama

April 22, 1919

Rehearing Denied May 6, 1919

Appeal from Circuit Court, Montgomery County; Gaston Gunter, Judge.

Action by Wilbur F. Beasley against James S. Dowdell and another for damages for injuries sustained in a collision with an automobile of the defendants. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Reversed and remanded.

The following charges were refused to the defendant:

(6) If you believe from the evidence that Mr. Beasley was operating the motorcycle at a rate of speed in excess of 10 miles an hour at the intersection of Mobile and Mildred streets, then I charge you that as a matter of law the operation of said motorcycle at such speed was negligence on his part.

(7) If you believe from the evidence that Mr. Beasley was operating the motorcycle at a rate of speed in excess of 10 miles an hour at the intersection of Mobile and Mildred streets, then I charge you that as a matter of law such operation was negligent, and if you believe from the evidence that such negligence on Mr. Beasley's part contributed proximately to his injuries, then you cannot find for the plaintiff under the first count of the complaint.

(8) I charge you that under the evidence in this case Mr Beasley was negligent as a matter of law in operating the motorcycle at a rate of speed in excess of 10 miles an hour at the intersection of Mobile and Mildred streets, and if you believe from the evidence that such negligence contributed proximately even in the remotest degree to his injuries, you cannot find for the plaintiff under the third count of the complaint.

(13) If you believe the motorcycle was being operated at a speed in excess of 10 miles an hour at the time of the collision, you cannot find for the plaintiff under the first or second counts of the complaint.

Rushton Williams & Crenshaw, of Montgomery, for appellants.

Goodwyn & McIntyre, of Montgomery, for appellee.

BROWN P.J.

The plaintiff's injuries, made the basis of this action resulted from the collision of the defendant's automobile and the plaintiff's motorcycle at the intersection of Mobile and Mildred streets in the city of Montgomery. The evidence shows without dispute that the automobile was at the time in charge of and being operated by the defendant's regular chauffeur, Arthur Baldwin, and tends to show that he was guilty of negligence which proximately caused the collision. There can be no question as to the logic of the rule that--

"Where a servant, who is employed for the special purpose of operating an automobile for the master, and is found operating it in the usual manner such machines are operated, the presumption naturally arises that he is running the machine in the master's service. If he is not so running it, this fact is peculiarly within the knowledge of the master, and the burden is on him to overthrow this presumption by evidence which the law presumes he is in possession of. It would be a hard rule, in such circumstances, to require the party complaining of the tortious act of the servant to show by positive proof that the servant was serving the master and not himself." Long v. Nute, 123 Mo.App. 204, 209, 210, 100 S.W. 511, 513; Stewart v. Baruch, 103 N.Y.Supp. 577; Id., 103 A.D. 577, 93 N.Y.Supp. 161.

The presumption here is of the same character as that arising from proof of the communication of fire by a railroad engine, of which it was said by the Supreme Court:

"It seems, however, that in this state the rule is that the mere communication of fire by a railroad engine is of itself sufficient to raise a presumption of negligence against the company. It has its foundation in the practical necessities of the case. Its locomotives from which the fire escapes are entirely within the control and under the supervision of the company, and its agents or servants know whether or not they are properly equipped to prevent the escaping of fire, and they know whether any mechanical appliances were employed for that purpose, and, if so, what was their character, while, on the other hand, the owner of the property consumed has little or no opportunity to learn whether it was a case of unavoidable accident or negligence. Such facts may be easily obtained and proved by the company and if its appliances are of proper pattern and construction and in good repair, and there has been no negligence in the operation of the engine, the presumption of negligence arising from the escape of fire can be rebutted. Care should, however, be observed to distinguish between the prima facie presumption of negligence raised against the company upon proof of communication of fire from sparks from an engine, merely for the purpose of shifting the burden of proof and prima facie evidence of negligence in fact, lest the rule be misapplied, and the presumption indulged to an extent of making out the plaintiff's case as against the undisputed evidence of the exercise of due care in the handling and proper construction of the engine." L. & N.R.R. Co. v. Marbury Lumber Co., 125 Ala. 237, 253, 28 So. 438, 441 (50 L.R.A. 620).

"The presumptions dealt with in those cases were

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