Martin v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co.

• Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• Writing for the Court: DE COURCY, J.
• Citation: Martin v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 216 Mass. 361, 103 N. E. 828 (Mass. 1914)
• Decision Date: 09 January 1914
• Parties: MARTIN v. BOSTON ELEVATED RY. CO.

216 Mass. 361

103 N.E. 828

MARTIN v. BOSTON ELEVATED RY. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Middlesex.

January 9, 1914

COUNSEL

H. H. & H. J. Winslow, of Boston, for plaintiff.

F. W Fosdick, of Boston, for defendant.

OPINION

DE COURCY, J.

The only question in controversy is whether the trial judge should have ruled as matter of law that the conductor was not negligent as to the time of starting the car, instead of leaving that issue to the jury as a question of fact.

These are the facts. At about noon on February 28, 1912, a car of the defendant, bound from Park Street subway to Arlington Heights, came to a stop at Church street to discharge and receive passengers. The plaintiff's married daughter and the latter's little boy boarded the rear vestibule and entered the car. The plaintiff followed as far as the vestibule, with a suit case, but was delayed from getting into the body of the car by an intervening woman passenger. Leaving her suit case in the vestibule, the plaintiff started to enter the car, the floor of which was one step higher than the floor of the rear platform, but before she had time to enter the door or to get hold of anything the car started suddenly, and she fell back into the rear part of the vestibule. On the rear platform at the time were two bundles described as 'Italian's Packs,' the plaintiff's suit case, and that of Mrs. Gray, which the conductor had placed there, but it does not appear that these in any way contributed to the accident.

It is settled law in this commonwealth that under ordinary circumstances it is not negligence for a conductor to give the starting signal after the passenger is fully and fairly on the car. Sauvan v. Citizens' Electric Street Railway, 197 Mass. 176, 83 N.E. 405. In reaching that conclusion the court...