Teasdale v. Beacon Oil Co. 

• Decision Date: 18 January 1929
• Citation: 266 Mass. 25,164 N.E. 612
• Parties: TEASDALE v. BEACON OIL CO., Inc.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

266 Mass. 25

164 N.E. 612

TEASDALE

v.BEACON OIL CO., Inc.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Bristol.

Jan. 18, 1929.

Exceptions from Superior Court, Bristol County; F. B. Greenhalge, Judge.

Action by Ernest Teasdale against the Beacon Oil Company, Incorporated. Verdict for plaintiff, and defendant brings exceptions. Exceptions overruled.

W. I. Howarth, of Fall River, for plaintiff.

W. I. Badger, of Boston, for defendant.

CROSBY, J.

This is an action of tort to recover for personal injuries received by the plaintiff through the alleged negligence of an employee of the defendant.

The evidence introduced by the plaintiff was that on the morning of July 1, 1925, he was sitting on the rear seat in an automobile operated by one Barrows, on his way to work; that they drove up to a gasoline station of the defendant, and Barrows asked the attendant for some gasoline; that the gasoline tank in the automobile was under the front seat; that the cover of the seat was removed, the cap of the tank unscrewed, and the defendant's attendant put the nozzle of the gasoline hose into the tank and then went to the pump and gave the handle ‘a quick jerk’; that immediately the nozzle came out of the tank spilling a gallon or more of gasoline over the car and all over the plaintiff's clothes; that he ‘was saturated from the neck down.’ Barrows testified that the attendant gave the handle of the pump ‘one quick jerk around,’ and the hose ‘flopped out. It pushed it right out; it shot to the right.’ There was also evidence that afterwards the hose was replaced, the tank was filled by the attendant, the cap was screwed on, and the seat cover replaced; that Barrows paid the attendant, who went into a building to make change, and Barrows got out of the car and received his change and the attendant went to some other part of the premises; that Barrows then turned on the ignition switch, went to the front of the car and started to crank the engine; that as soon as he did so flames burst forth in the automobile causing the plaintiff to be severely burned. Barrows testified that he had had trouble with the ignition that morning and had been working on it; that previous to the accident he had removed the cover of the coil box and left it off; that any time when the automobile was cranked there would be a spark in the coil box and if the cover was off the spark was exposed.

The foregoing was the substance of the testimony offered by the plaintiff; at its conclusion the defendant filed a motion for a directed verdict, which was denied, and the defendant excepted. No question of due care on the part of the plaintiff is raised, the only issue being whether the plaintiff's injuries were due to negligence of the defendant's servant or agent.

In an action of this kind the defendant is liable for the natural and probable consequences of his negligent act or omission. ‘The injury must be the direct result of the misconduct charged; but it will not be considered too remote if, according to the usual experience of mankind, the result ought to have been apprehended. The act of a third person, intervening and contributing a condition necessary to the injurious effect of the original negligence, will not excuse the first...