Gunn v. Standard Oil Co.
| Decision Date | 22 October 1921 |
| Docket Number | 5640. |
| Citation | 275 F. 932 |
| Parties | GUNN v. STANDARD OIL CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
George A. McGee, of Minot, N.D. (McGee & Goss, of Minot, N.D., on the brief), for plaintiff in error.
E. T Conmy, of Fargo, N.D. (Young, Conmy & Young, of Fargo, N.D on the brief), for defendant in error.
Before HOOK and CARLAND, Circuit Judges, and LEWIS, District Judge.
Gunn was employed by the Oil Company and drove one of its auto trucks from about April 1, 1918, up to the 17th day of the following month. In the late afternoon of the day last named he was returning from a trip which he had made to the country for the purpose of delivering oil to defendant's customer, and while going down a hill on a winding road the truck left the highway, rolled down the embankment and Gunn was severely injured. He brought this action against the Oil Company to recover damages for those injuries, and charged in his complaint that defendant was guilty of negligence in furnishing him a truck in a defective and unsafe condition that the steering gear would at times lock or stick so that the truck could not be guided, and also that the brakes at times could not be applied. At the close of the evidence on both sides the court, on motion of defendant, instructed a verdict in its favor, which Gunn has assigned as error.
There was substantial evidence to this effect: The truck was an old one, or at least had been in use for some time, on occasions when attempt was made to turn it in one direction it would go the opposite way, on occasions it could not be held in the road but would pass out to one side, it had no muffler, the supporting frame was broken or cracked on each side so that it sagged, thus shortening the brake rod underneath, the steering rod that goes through the steering arm crosswise between the two front wheels and holds the wheels in alignment had been out of repair, it was out of repair when the man who preceded Gunn was driving the truck, this man put in a rag and tightened it up, Gunn had found it difficult to steer it on three or four occasions prior to the accident, he testified that he complained to defendant's manager that he could not at times properly steer the truck, and on making the complaints the manager had sent the truck to a local repair shop, that the manager told him after it was repaired the last time that he thought it was all right, the steering...
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Prefontaine v. Great Northern Railway Company, a Corp.
...McKade (U.S.) 48 L.Ed. 95; Armour Co. v. Hahn (U.S.) 28 L.Ed. 440; Seaboard Am. Line Co. v. Horton (U.S.) 58 L.Ed. 1062; Gunn v. Standard Oil Co. (C. C. A.) 275 F. 932. defendant is not entitled as a matter of right to amend his answer upon the trial so as to set up a new and added defense ......