Nelson v. Atlantic & Pac. R.R. Co.

• Decision Date: 31 October 1878
• Citation: 68 Mo. 593
• Parties: NELSON v. THE ATLANTIC & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

68 Mo. 593

NELSON

v.THE ATLANTIC & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

October Term, 1878.

Appeal from Webster Circuit Court.--HON. R. W. FYAN, Judge.

John O'Day for appellant.

Mrs. Nelson's conduct amounted to negligence per se, directly contributing to the injuries complained of; hence the court should have so declared, by directing that plaintiff be non-suited. Flemming v. W. P. R. R. Co., 49 Cal. 253; Richmond v. S. V. R. R. Co., 18 Cal. 351; Gray v. Winter, 34 Cal. 153; Kline v. C. P. R. R. Co., 37 Cal. 400; Needham v. S. F. & S. J. R. R. Co., 37 Cal. 409; Moore v. C. R. R. Co., 4 Zab. 268; Runyan v. C. R. R. Co., 1 Dut. Ch. 556; McClurg v. P. R. R. Co.,56 Pa. St. 294; Fletcher v. A. & P. R. R. Co., 64 Mo. 484; Glassy v. H. R. R. Co.,57 Pa. St. 172; Shearman & Redfield on Neg., § 11; McKee v. Powell,74 Pa. St. 218; Gavett v. M. & L. R. R. Co., 16 Gray 501.

Where cars pass their usual stopping place, and to avoid being carried beyond his destination, a passenger, when the train is in motion, jumps out, and in so doing sustains an injury, the railroad company is not liable in damages. Dumont v. N. O. & C. R. R. Co., 9 La. 441; Aspell v. Railroad,23 Pa. St. 147; Able v. I. C. R. R. Co., 59 Ill. 131; Hendricks v. J. R. R. Co., 26 Ind. 228; Jefferson R. R. Co. v. Swift, Ib. 459; Knight v. P. R. R. Co., 23 La. 462; Hubsner v. N. O. & C. R. R. Co., 23 La. 492; Curtis v. D. & M. R. R. Co., 23 Wis. 152; Haggard v. C. & B. R. R. Co., 26 Ill. 373; Baddsley v. T. W. & W. R. R. Co., 54 Ill. 19; Hulbert v. N. Y. C. R. R. Co., 49 N. Y. 47; Duncan v. E. & C. R. R. Co., 28 Ind. 441; Aspell v. P. R. R. Co.,23 Pa. St. 147; Randolph v. C. & A. R. R. Co., 53 Ill. 510; Davis v. C. & N. W. R. R. Co., 18 Wis. 175; Shearman & Redfield on Neg., § 283; Lucas v. T. R. R. Co., 6 Gray (Mass.) 64; Nichols v. Sixth Ave. R. R. Co., 38 N. Y. 131; Redfield's Railway Cases, pp. 204, 205.

J. P. Nixon for respondent.

HOUGH, J.

In September, 1873, the plaintiff and his wife were passengers on the defendant's road from Vinita, in the Indian territory, to the town of Richland, Pulaski county, in this State. The testimony is conflicting as to whether the train came to a full stop at Richland, their place of destination. However that may be, it is certain that other passengers got off there, among whom was a lady fifty-eight years of age, who was quite feeble; and it is also certain that the servants of the company on the train transacted business with the servants of the company at the station before the train passed. After the train, in leaving the station, had passed the end of the platform, the plaintiff, who, for some reason had failed to get off at the platform, though notified by the conductor shortly before reaching there that they were approaching the station, jumped to the ground from the front end of the rear car while the train was moving at a rate of speed variously estimated by the witnesses at from four to fifteen miles an hour, and signaled his wife, who was a large fleshy woman about fifty-eight years of age, to jump also. Mrs. Nelson jumped from the train into a ditch by the side of the roadbed, the bottom of which was between five and six feet from the lower step of the car, though the servants of the defendant and others attempted to restrain her, and advised her not to jump, as the train would be stopped for her to get off. While the servants of the company were endeavoring to prevent her from jumping, the bell cord was pulled to stop the train, and it was stopped, before the car from which she jumped passed the spot where she fell. Her ankle joint was dislocated by the fall, mortification and gangrene ensued, and amputation followed, from the effects of which she died. Plaintiff thereupon brought the present suit under the damage act, and recovered judgment for $5,000, from which the defendant has appealed.

If a passenger, by the negligence of the agents of the railroad company, is carried beyond the station where he has a right to be let off, he can recover for the inconvenience, loss of time, labor and expense of traveling back; but if he leaps from the train while in rapid motion in order to avoid being carried beyond his stopping place, he does so at his own risk. Doss v. M., K. & T. R. R. Co., 59 Mo. 37; Railroad Co. v. Aspell, 23 Pa. St. 147; Able v. I. C. R. R. Co., 59 Ill. 131; Chicago & A. R. R. Co. v. Randolph, 53 Ill. 510; Gavett v. M. & L. R. R. Co., 16 Gray 501; Filer v. N. Y. C. R. R. Co., 49 N. Y. 47. In the case of the Chicago & A. R. R. Co. v. Randolph, supra, it was held that where the plaintiff voluntarily, and without constraint, leaped from the train on the suggestion of the conductor, that he could do so with safety, he could not recover for injuries thereby received, if the danger was so apparent that a prudent man similarly situated would not have attempted the leap. In Doss v. M., K. &. T. R. R. Co., supra, this court said: “For a person to jump from a car propelled by steam, when it is in rapid motion, may be regarded as mere recklessness; but to step from a car not yet beyond the platform, and whose motion is so slight as to be almost or quite imperceptible, may not be negligence, and whether it is or not, is for the jury to decide from the physical condition of the person and all the attendant circumstances.” If a passenger leaps from a train in rapid motion, in order to escape some impending danger to which the negligence of the company's servants has exposed him, and is injured, the company, as the author of the original peril, will be responsible for the...