Vines v. Crescent Transit Co., 6 Div. 840

• Court: Supreme Court of Alabama
• Writing for the Court: SIMPSON; LAWSON; MERRILL
• Citation: 85 So.2d 436,264 Ala. 114
• Decision Date: 03 November 1955
• Docket Number: 6 Div. 840
• Parties: Pearl VINES v. CRESCENT TRANSIT COMPANY.

Page 436

85 So.2d 436 264 Ala. 114 Pearl VINES
v.
CRESCENT TRANSIT COMPANY. 6 Div. 840. Supreme Court of Alabama. Nov. 3, 1955.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 2, 1956.

[264 Ala. 115] The complaint is as follows:

'Count A: Plaintiff claims of defendant, Crescent Transit, Inc., a corporation, the sum of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) for that, heretofore, on, to-wit: January 15, 1952, the defendant, Crescent Transit, Inc., a corporation, was the owner and operator of a transit system and operated passenger buses for hire in Jefferson County, Alabama, within the jurisdiction of this Court, and on said date, and prior thereto, regularly operated a bus for the carriage of passengers between Fairfield, Alabama, and Bessemer, Alabama, and on, to-wit: January 15, 1952, at about 6:00 p. m. plaintiff entered into an implied contract with the defendant wherein and whereby, for a valuable consideration, the defendant impliedly contracted to safely transport and carry the plaintiff from the city of Fairfield, Alabama, to the regular and customary stopping place of defendant's buses on 19th Street at its intersection with 29th Avenue, Bessemer, Alabama. That on said date, pursuant to the said contract plaintiff boarded one of defendant's buses in Fairfield, Alabama, and paid her fare demanded by defendant to be transported under said agreement to the customary stopping place of said bus of defendant on 19th Street at its intersection with 29th Avenue, Bessemer, Alabama. That defendant did not perform or fulfill the contract on its part, namely, to safely transport plaintiff to said point of disembarkation, but, on

Page 437

the contrary, defendant, at about 6:45 p. m., on said date in violation of said contract of carriage operated said bus to a point beyond the usual and customary stopping place and point of disembarkation of passengers at 19th Street and 29th Avenue, Bessemer, Alabama; and to a point, to-wit: thirty feet from and beyond said usual and customary stopping place and point of disembarkation of passengers, in close proximity to an open culvert, which point at which defendant stopped said bus was not a reasonably safe place for disembarkation of passengers, and defendant required plaintiff to there disembark from said bus, and as a proximate consequence of defendant's breach of said contract in carrying plaintiff beyond her point of destination and usual and customary point of disembarkation, and requiring her to alight or disembark at said place in close proximity to said open culvert, she fell into said culvert and was grievously injured about her head, body and limbs, in that: she was thereby contused, bruised, lacerated; that her arm and shoulder were fractured, and she was required to spend much time from her household duties in a hospital, and to expend large sums of money in and about healing her said wounds, and she was rendered permanently disabled, and that she received all of her said wounds and injuries as a proximate consequence of the said breach of implied contract of carriage by defendant.'

'Count B: Plaintiff claims of defendant, Crescent Transit, Inc., a corporation, the sum of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) for that, heretofore, on, to-wit: January 15, 1952, the defendant, Crescent Transit, Inc., a corporation, was the owner and operator of a transit system and operated passenger buses for hire in Jefferson County, Alabama, within the jurisdiction of this Court, and on said date, and prior thereto, regularly operated a bus for the carriage of passengers between Fairfield, Alabama and Bessemer, Alabama, and on, to-wit: January[264 Ala. 116] 15, 1952, at about 6:00 p.m. defendant impliedly contracted with the plaintiff, for a valuable consideration, to safely transport and carry the plaintiff from the City of Fairfield, Alabama, to the regular and customary stopping place of defendant's buses on 19th Street at its intersection with 29th Avenue, Bessemer, Alabama. That on said date, pursuant to said contract, plaintiff boarded one of defendant's buses in Fairfield, Alabama, and paid her fare demanded by defendant to be transported under said contract to said usual customary stopping place, that defendant did not perform or fulfill the contract on its part, namely, to safely transport plaintiff to said point of disembarkation but, on the contrary, defendant, at about 6:45 p. m. on said date negligently stopping said bus for the purpose of plaintiff's disembarkation at a point, to-wit: Thirty feet from and beyond said customary stopping place, which point at which defendant stopped said bus was not a reasonably safe place for disembarkation of passengers, but, on the contrary, was unsafe and dangerous in that said point of disembarkation was in close proximity of an open culvert obscured to plaintiff by darkness, and defendant negligently required or negligently permitted plaintiff to there disembark from siad bus, and as a proximate consequence of the defendant's negligent breach of said contract in carrying plaintiff beyond her point of destination and negligently requiring or negligently permitting her to alight at an unsafe place in close proximity to an open culvert then and there obscured to the plaintiff by darkness, she fell into said open culvert and was grievously and seriously injured about her head, body and limbs in that: she was thereby contused, bruised, lacerated; that her arm and shoulder were fractured, and she was required to

Page 438

spend much time from her household duties in a hospital, and to expend large sums of money in and about healing her said wounds, and she was rendered permanently disabled, and that she received all of her said wounds and injuries as a proximate consequence of the negligent breach of implied contract of carriage by defendant.'

Lipscomb, Brobston, Jones & Brobston, Bessemer, for appellant.

[264 Ala. 117] Bainbridge & Mims, Birmingham, and Huey, Stone & Patton, Bessemer, for appellee.

SIMPSON, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of nonsuit...