Mitchell v. Stroh Brewery Co.
| Decision Date | 30 June 1944 |
| Docket Number | No. 33.,33. |
| Citation | 309 Mich. 231,15 N.W.2d 144 |
| Parties | MITCHELL v. STROH BREWERY CO. et al. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Action by Annie Mitchell against the Stroh Brewery Company and another for personal injuries, wherein court granted defendants' motions for a directed verdict at the close of plaintiff's evidence. From the judgment entered on a directed verdict for defendants, plaintiff appeals.
Judgment affirmed. Appeal from Circuit Court, Wayne County; Adolph F. marschner, judge.
Before the Entire Bench.
Dann & Atlas and Seymour Tilchin, all of Detroit, for plaintiff and appellant.
L .J. Carey and Geo. J. Cooper, both of Detroit, for defendant and appellee Stroh Brewery Co.
A. Albert Bonczak, of Detroit, for defendant and appellee City of Detroit.
Plaintiff began the present suit to recover damages for personal injuries sustained when she fell while alighting from a street car owned and operated by defendant city. She alleged, in substance, that the city was negligent in that said street car was stopped at a place where it was unsafe for her to alight; that defendant brewery company was negligent in parking its truck so close to the street car tracks as to endanger her safety, and was also negligent in parking its truck in violation of a city ordinance. At the conclusion of plaintiff's proofs, each defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that she had failed to establish negligence on their part and that she was guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. The trial court granted such motions, and plaintiff appeals from the judgment entered on directed verdict for defendants.
It appears that about noon on February 19, 1941, plaintiff, a ‘stout and heavy’ woman 56 years old, was a passenger on a street car operated by defendant city on Sherman street. She wished to get off at the corner of Chene and Sherman, at which corner there was no established safety zone. She rang the signal bell, the car stopped, the conductor opened the side-exist door, and she started to alight. While she had one foot on the car step and one on the ground, she first saw defendant brewery company's truck, which was parked close beside the street-car exit. She became frightened, and while attempting to get back on the street car, fell to the pavement, sustaining the injuries for which she seeks to recover.
It was stipulated by counsel that Sherman street, at the place of the accident, was 26 feet wide; that the distance from the car track to the curb was 10 feet 7 inches; and that the brewery company's truck was 23 feet long, 9 feet high, and 7 feet 9 inches wide. There was testimony indicating that the truck was parked about a foot from the curb and that there was a distance of about 2 feet between the street car and the side of the truck. Plaintiff testified regarding her accident in part as follows:
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‘I saw the truck when I put my foot down on the street. * * *
‘The center of the truck was even with the street car door where I was getting off. * * *
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...negligence on the part of defendants, as the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is not followed in this State." Mitchell v. Stroh Brewery Co., 309 Mich. 231, 235, 15 N.W.2d 144, 146; School District of City of Ionia v. Dadd, 308 Mich. 220, 228, 13 N.W.2d As to invitees it is said "that one who i......
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Detroit Edison Co. v. Knowles, 9998.
...of going forward with the evidence so that a directed verdict would ensue were not the presumption rebutted. See Mitchell v. Stroh Brewery Co., 309 Mich. 231, 15 N.W.2d 144; In re Estate of Miller, 300 Mich. 703, 2 N.W. 2d 888; Poundstone v. Niles Creamery, 293 Mich. 455, 292 N.W. 367; Ioni......
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Paultanis v. Nutt
...danger is obvious to the passenger, the carrier is not liable to him for injuries received from such defects.'' In Mitchell v. Stroh Brewery Co., 609 Mich. 231, 15 N.W.2d 144, the plaintiff, while alighting from a street car, became confused by defendant's truck being parked about 2 feet fr......
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Otto v. Hansen Wholesale Lumber Corp.
...on the part of defendants, as the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is not followed in this State. (Citing cases.)' Mitchell v. Stroh Brewery Co., 309 Mich. 231, 15 N.W.2d 144, 146. See, also, Moore v. Traverse City Masonic Building Ass'n, 324 Mich. 507, 37 N.W.2d 457; Facer v. Lewis, 326 Mich.......