Nelson v. Nason
| Decision Date | 20 November 1961 |
| Citation | 177 N.E.2d 887,343 Mass. 220 |
| Parties | Oliver W. NELSON, administrator, v. David NASON. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
John W. Fellows, Worcester, for plaintiff.
Richard G. Crotty, Worcester, for defendant.
Before WILKINS, C. J., and SPALDING, WILLIAMS, WHITTEMORE, and KIRK, JJ.
It was not error to deny the defendant's motion for a directed verdict. The issue is whether the defendant's negligent conduct in the operation of a pickup truck could have been found to be a contributing cause of the collision between another truck, operated by Eric Scott, and a convertible driven by Nason's friend Ronald Perham, in which a mutual friend, the plaintiff's intestate, Oliver W. Nelson, Junior, was a passenger, which resulted in the immediate death of Perham and Nelson.
Direct testimony, and reasonable inferences therefrom, warranted the finding of these facts: On the morning of December 7, 1956, in Lincoln Plaza, Worcester, Nason (16 years of age), and Nelson left the school bus which had brought them from Boylston and got into Perham's car to drive back to Boylston. The three were 'going to play hookey' from school; Perham was to drive Nason to the point in Boylston Center at which he had left his father's truck; Nason was to drive the truck to Clinton to be repaired; Perham was to bring Nason home from Clinton. Dropping Nason near the truck as planned, Perham, with Nelson beside him, drove toward Clinton on Route 70; Nason followed in the truck. At Green's Orchard on Route 70, a mile or two from the point of collision, on a straight stretch of road, the convertible and the truck overtook and passed another automobile, driven by John J. Durkin, Junior which was traveling at about 50 miles an hour. The speed of the overtaking cars was 70 or 75 miles an hour and the front bumper of Nason's truck was about a foot from the rear bumper of the convertible. The road between Green's Orchard and the point of collision was winding and hilly and its surface was wet. Just before the collision, which occurred at a curve, Nason's pickup truck, traveling about 60 miles an hour, passed Scott's truck, which was traveling in the opposite direction at about 35 miles an hour. Nason, coming 'onto the straightaway * * * seemed to be fighting for control.' As Scott entered the curve about 400 feet farther along he saw the Perham car coming toward him at a speed of over 70 miles an hour and at about that instant 'it seemed out of control and came into collision' with Scott's truck. Durkin arrived at the scene of the accident within a minute and a half or two minutes after Perham and Nason had passed him at Green's Orchard. Nason denied racing, agreeing to race, betting on first arrival, or traveling at more than 50 miles an hour. He testified to overtaking Perham's car and another automobile at Green's Orchard.
Persons who race automobiles on highways are liable in negligence for injuries to others caused by one of them. Brown v. Thayer, 212...
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