Harlow v. Sinman
| Decision Date | 07 June 1922 |
| Citation | 241 Mass. 462 |
| Parties | GRACE L. HARLOW v. LAZARUS SINMAN. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
March 14, 1922.
Present: RUGG, C.
J., BRALEY, DE COURCY, CROSBY, & JENNEY, JJ.
Motor Vehicle Registration. Negligence, In use of motor vehicle. Words "Owner."
Where, at the trial of an action by a woman for personal injuries received when an automobile, alleged to have been owned by the plaintiff was run into by an automobile of the defendant being steered by him while it was being towed, there is evidence of due care of the plaintiff and of negligence of the defendant, and it appears that the first automobile was properly registered in the name of the plaintiff and there is some evidence that the plaintiff was its sole owner and that it was being driven by her daughter, a duly licensed operator, a verdict should not be ordered for the defendant,
Registration of a motor vehicle in the name of one who is but a part owner is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of G.L.c. 90, Section 2, and to entitle the registrant to recover for personal injuries and damage to the motor vehicle caused upon a public way by negligence of a third person while the motor vehicle with the registrant's consent was being operated by the other part owner, an operator duly licensed.
TORT for personal injuries received in a collision resulting from negligent steering by the defendant of a motor vehicle which was being towed. Writ dated October 20, 1919.
In the Superior Court, the action was tried before J. F. Brown, J. Material evidence is described in the opinion. At the close of the evidence, by order of the judge, a verdict was entered for the defendant; and the plaintiff alleged exceptions.
James J. McCarthy for the plaintiff. J. M. Morrison, for the defendant.
DE COURCY, J. On the morning of August 20, 1919, the plaintiff, her daughter Grace H. Gifford, and a neighbor were returning from Plymouth in an automobile. They were proceeding northerly along Morton Street, in Boston, on their right hand side of the road. A Ford touring car, owned and operated by the defendant, was being towed by a Ford truck in the opposite direction; it suddenly darted out from behind the truck, "shot across" Morton Street, struck the left side of the Harlow car, and tipped it over. The due care of the plaintiff is not questioned. The negligence of the defendant plainly was for the jury, as the evidence tended to show that the brakes and steering gear of his machine were in good condition. It is apparent that the verdict for the defendant was directed on the issue of lawful registration.
The automobile was registered in the name of the plaintiff, and the "usual registration papers" were in the car at the time of the accident. Both she and her daughter Mrs. Gifford were duly licensed operators, and each frequently drove the car. At the time of the accident Mrs. Gifford was at the wheel, and the plaintiff sat beside her on the front seat. There was some evidence that the plaintiff was the sole owner of the car, and that her daughter was driving it for her. That was sufficient to entitle her to go to the jury. Commonwealth v. Sherman, 191 Mass. 439 . Bourne v. Whitman, 209 Mass. 155 , 172. Smith v. Jordan, 211 Mass. 269 . Bullard v. Boston Elevated Railway, 226 Mass. 262 .
Even if Mrs. Gifford was a part owner of the automobile, as the evidence indicates, that fact would not render the registration invalid as matter of law. The statute, G.L.c. 90, Section 2, provides that application for the registration of motor vehicles may be made by the "owner thereof." As was said in Keith v. Maguire, 170 Mass. 210 , 212: In Downey v. Bay State Street Railway,
225 Mass. 281 , the plaintiff's interest in the truck which was damaged by the defendant was that of purchaser under a conditional contract, by the terms of which a bill of sale was not to be given until the purchase price was...
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