Powers v. Conn. Co.

• Decision Date: 04 January 1910
• Citation: 82 Conn. 665,74 A. 931
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: POWERS v. CONNECTICUT CO.

74 A. 931

82 Conn. 665

POWERS

v. CONNECTICUT CO.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

Jan. 4, 1910.

Appeal from Superior Court, Fairfield County; Edwin B. Gager, Judge.

Action by Katherine G. Powers against the Connecticut Company. From a judgment entered on a directed verdict for defendant, plaintiff appeals. No error.

The complaint, after alleging that the plaintiff, on April 21, 1908, between 7 and 8 p. m. became a passenger on one of the defendant's cars in the city of South Norwalk, contained these averments as to the nature and cause of the accident:

"(3) Said car came to a stop near the corner of North Main and Washington streets, in said South Norwalk, and the plaintiff thereupon alighted from said car, and while passing around the rear end of said car in order to reach the adjoining sidewalk, and while in the exercise of due care in so doing, she tripped and fell over the fender of said car, which was at that time attached to said car and lying on or near the ground at the rear of said car."

"(7) Said injuries received by the plaintiff, as aforesaid, were due to the negligence of the defendant, in that the servants and employes of the defendant carelessly and negligently allowed said fender to remain on the ground after said car had come to a stop and while the plaintiff and other passengers were in the act of alighting from and passing around the rear of said car; and in that the rear of said car was not lighted so as to enable the plaintiff and other passengers to see the fender as it lay on the ground to the rear of said car as aforesaid; and in that said servants and employes of the defendant failed and neglected to give the plaintiff any notice of the position of said fender on the ground, as aforesaid, and wholly failed and neglected to warn the plaintiff of the danger of passing to the rear of said car while said fender remained on the ground, as aforesaid."

Nehemiah Candee, for appellant. Joseph F. Berry, for appellee.

BALDWIN, C. J. (after stating the facts as above). The plaintiff's evidence either establishes or would have justified the jury in finding the following facts: On the day alleged, between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening, the plaintiff was a passenger on one of the defendant's trolley cars in South Norwalk. It was stopped near the corner of North Main and Washington streets and three persons alighted. She was the last of them, and stepped from the rear end of the car down upon the street, facing forward. As soon as both her feet were on the ground, she turned to pass around the rear of the car, following the course customarily taken by passengers alighting there from the car to reach the sidewalk, which she wished to gain. As she started to walk around it, the skirt of her dress caught on something that was on the fender, and she was thrown into it, sustaining considerable injuries. At this time it was very dark. There were seven or eight electric lights shining inside the car and a sign light on the rear dasher, shining down upon the fender, and about two feet above the level of the platform. This fender was a double one, the ordinary metal framework composing the lower part, when down, and a metal basket-like arrangement, setting into the lower part. It was attached to the rear of the car, and was either in the position where it would customarily be upon the forward end of the car, projecting from the car about three feet, and within a few inches of the ground, or had dropped flat upon the ground. The defendant's custom, in running its cars, was to draw the rear fender up, fastening it by a hook and chain or strap, and let the front fender down. When the car was about 200 feet from the point where it stopped, the conductor heard a noise coming from outside the car, which made him think that there might be something wrong with the rear fender. He was not certain as to this, though he knew that there must have been some kind of a break. It was his intention to make an investigation as soon as the car stopped, which was to be very shortly. There was an emergency bell on the car, which he did not ring. If it had been rung, the car would have been stopped immediately. As soon as the three passengers had...