Hall v. Ripley

• Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• Citation: Hall v. Ripley, 119 Mass. 135 (Mass. 1875)
• Decision Date: 11 November 1875
• Parties: James Hall, Jr., v. Alpheus S. Ripley. Alpheus S. Ripley v. James Hall, Jr

119 Mass. 135

James Hall, Jr., v. Alpheus S. Ripley. Alpheus S. Ripley v. James Hall, Jr

Supreme Court of Massachusetts

November 11, 1875

Suffolk. Two actions of tort for injuries caused by the collision of the carriages of the respective parties on Beacon Street in Boston. At the trial in the Superior Court before Putnam, J., it appeared from the evidence of both parties that the collision took place between eight and nine o'clock in the evening of July 7, 1873, and that the part of Beacon Street where the collision occurred was about fifty feet wide between the sidewalks.

The evidence offered by Hall tended to show that he was driving into the city on the right hand side of the road, within a few feet of the edgestone; that immediately before the collision he saw Ripley coming in the opposite direction, and driving in an irregular and careless manner; that at a moment before the collision Ripley deviated from his course, driving in an irregular and careless manner; that at a moment before the collision Ripley deviated from his course, driving obliquely towards Hall; and that, though Hall uttered a cry of warning, and turned and drove as far to the right as was possible, the collision occurred by Ripley's driving out of his course unnecessarily. Hall also offered evidence tending to show that the street was free from passing vehicles; that the evening was clear, the moon was nearly full, and the light was such that objects could be easily seen at a considerable distance.

Ripley offered evidence tending to show that he was driving out from Boston, and that Hall, coming in an opposite direction, was driving at a high rate of speed, some fifteen or eighteen miles an hour, and racing with other parties, and that this was the cause, or one of the causes, of the collision.

Hall admitted in testimony that he was driving at the rate of eight or nine miles an hour, and that when he saw Ripley at a distance of seventy-five or eighty feet and coming towards him, and apprehended a collision, he did not stop or turn to the left, but drove as near as he could to the right hand sidewalk, and when asked why he did not stop or turn to the left to avoid the danger, he answered, "I do not know why I did not." The ordinance of the city of Boston which prohibited, under a penalty, driving at a rate faster than six miles an hour in any street of the city, was put in evidence.

Ripley testified that, in turning to...