Ellis v. Boston & L.R. Co.
| Decision Date | 04 January 1894 |
| Citation | 160 Mass. 341,35 N.E. 1127 |
| Parties | ELLIS v. BOSTON & L.R. CO. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
A.A. Strout and John Warren Johnson, for plaintiff.
Proctor Tappan & Warren, for defendant.
Although there was some conflict of evidence in this case, the jury may have found that the plaintiff, having no reason to think it unsafe so to do, drove down a street in the city of Lynn on which was an electric railway, and there met one of the defendant's open electric cars, filled with passengers on which the motorman was continually sounding the gong; that his horse was frightened at the car and at the noise of the motor and of the gong, and manifested his fear in such a way as to show the motorman that the plaintiff and his daughter who was riding with him, were in great peril; and that the motorman, instead of stopping the car, or ceasing to sound the gong, kept on with the car, and continued to make a loud clangor with the gong, so that the horse became unmanageable, broke the carriage, threw the plaintiff out, and thereby inflicted serious injuries upon him.
The defendant's requests for rulings go upon the theory that the manager of an electric railway car upon a street is never called upon to stop the car, or to change his method of managing it, to avoid any danger from the fright of horses other than the danger of collision with the car. These requests were founded on an erroneous view of the law. It is a well-known fact that most horses are frightened at their first view of a moving electric car, especially if they encounter it in a quiet place, away from the distracting noises of a busy city street. It is only by careful training and a frequent repetition of the experience that they acquire courage to meet and pass such a car on a narrow street without excitement. The rights of the driver of a horse and the manager of an electric car, under such circumstances, are equal. Each may use the street, and each must use it with a reasonable regard for the safety and convenience of the other. The motorman is supposed to know that his car is likely to frighten horses that are unaccustomed to the sight of such vehicles, while most horses are easily taught, after a time, to pass it without fear. It is his duty, if he sees a horse in the street before him that is greatly frightened at the car, so as to endanger his driver or other persons in the...
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