Paterson v. Cent. R. & B. Co

• Decision Date: 07 July 1890
• Citation: 85 Ga. 653,11 S.E. 872
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court
• Parties: Paterson. v. Central R. & B. Co.

11 S.E. 872

85 Ga. 653

Paterson.

v.Central R. & B. Co.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

July 7, 1890.

Carriers—Injuries to Passengers—Pleading-Contributory Negligence.

In an action against a railroad company for personal injuries, the declaration alleged that plaintiff, a passenger, went upon the platform of the car as the train was hearing the station at his destination and running at a low rate of speed, and intended to alight at a street crossing before the station was reached, as it was customary and proper for passengers to do; that, as he was about to alight, the engineer negligently and without warning put on great force ofsteam by which a jerk was imparted to the train, throwing plaintiff to the ground; and that the jerk was partly due to the fact that the passenger-car in which he was had been negligently attached to a freight train instead of a regular passenger-train. Held, that the declaration showed the injuries to have been the result of plaintiff's own negligence, and a demurrer thereto was properly sustained.

Error from superior court, Burke county; Roney, Judge.

The official report is as follows: Action by Paterson against the railroad company for damages, his declaration alleging, in brief, as follows: On the night of May 4, 1889, plaintiff secured of defendant passage over its railroad from Augusta to Waynesboro, paying the regular charges therefor. After the car provided for his conveyance, and into which he entered, had left the passenger depot at Augusta, the defendant, while yet in that city, attached said passenger-car to a large number of freight or box cars, and then, the train being made up, started on the down trip. Owing to the length and weight of the train, and insufficient steam power for rapid transit, the trip was slow and tedious. When Hearing Waynesboro, and within two hundred or three hundred yards of the depot there, the station was called in the usual way; whereupon plaintiff, being without baggage, and knowing that the train would cross Whitaker street before it reached the depot, upon which street plaintiff resided, went out upon the platform of the car, with the purpose of alighting at the Whitaker-Street crossing. The train was then moving slowly and at a uniform rate of speed, so that there was absolutely nothing in his situation to suggest danger to even the most cautious. As he anticipated, the speed of the train gradually decreased as it neared the crossing, which was within the corporate limits of Waynesboro, and within about one hundred yards of the depot, where defendant's trains are accustomed to stop to deposit and receive passengers and freight, and where it did stop on the night in question. The plaintiff could see that the place where he intended to leave the car was clear of obstructions, and he stood upon the steps of the platform preparatory to step off when the crossing should be reached. He knew, and defendant's agents and servants on the train must have known, that by reason of the low rate of speed required of them when nearing a depot or public street crossing, especially within the corporate limits of a city, it was customary for people to stand upon the platforms preparatory to leaving the trains; and they knew, or should have known, that it...