McDermott v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co.
| Decision Date | 01 March 1911 |
| Citation | 208 Mass. 104,94 N.E. 309 |
| Parties | McDERMOTT v. BOSTON ELEVATED RY. CO. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
C. F. Rowley, for plaintiff.
L. E. Flye, for defendant.
The jury could have found that the car had stopped for the apparent purpose of allowing passengers to alight; that while the car had been approaching the transfer station which was a regular stopping place, the plaintiff had risen from her seat and come to the door in order to be ready to step out as soon as the car should have stopped; that as she was about to step into the vestibule of the car, the conductor barred her passage by putting his arm across the door and his hand upon it, and so holding it until the car had come to a complete stop; that the conductor then removed his hand and stepped back, thus making way for her to get out, which she accordingly started to do; but that while she was stepping down, the car started and so threw her to the ground. This was enough to justify the jury in finding that she was in the exercise of due care, having been invited by the conductor to go out of the car, and that either the conductor or the motorman was negligent in starting the car while she was in the act of leaving it. Worthen v. Grand Trunk Ry., 125 Mass. 99; Barden v. Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg R. R., 121 Mass. 426; Floytrup v. Boston & Maine R. R., 163 Mass. 152, 155, 39 N.E. 797; McGlinchy v. Boston Elev. Ry., 206 Mass. 7, 91 N.E. 882; Black v. Boston Elevated Ry., 206 Mass. 80, 91 N.E. 891. The case is not at all like O'Neil v. Lynn & Boston R. R., 180 Mass. 576, 62 N.E. 983, or Curtin v. Boston Elev. Ry., 194 Mass. 260, 80 N.E. 522, relied on by the defendant. This accident was not caused by any jerk of the car in starting or stopping, but by making a sudden start after the car had come to a full stop for passengers to alight, and while the plaintiff was in act of alighting. See Work v. Boston Elev. Ry. (Essex, January 6, 1911) 93 N.E. 693.
Exceptions sustained.
To continue reading
Request your trial