Rossman v. Georgia Railway & Power Co.
Rossman v. Georgia Railway & Power Co.
Opinion of the Court
In substance the plaintiff alleged the following: The defendant operates an interurban railway line between Atlanta and Stone Mountain. Plaintiff with seventy-five or eighty other persons at Stone Mountain were awaiting the arrival of the cars from Atlanta, so that they could board them on their return trip.
If the passenger had provided himself with a ticket, the conductor could not have required him to surrender it until he had furnished him with a seat. But while' a passenger may decline to surrender his ticket until he is furnished with a seat, he can not insist on riding free while standing. He can not avail himself of the benefit of the transportation offered him under his contract, and at the same time withhold from the carrier his ticket, which is the evidence of his having paid his fare. If a passenger with a ticket desires to repudiate his contract because of the carrier’s failure to comply with a part of his obligation, he must do so in toto. He can not appropriate its benefits and at the same time get rid of its burdens. Southern Railway Co. v. Nappier, 138 Ga. 31 (74 S. E. 778); 2 Hutchinson on Carriers, § 1113. The principle of this rule also applies to intending passengers of interurban cars who board the car with the intention of paying the fare on the car. The plaintiff does not make it appear that the car had left
Though a carrier may have the right to eject a passenger who refuses to pay fare,'unnecessary force must not be used. The plaintiff alleged that he was “bruised and injured about his arms and body, caused by the manner and method in which he was ejected from the car.” The only “manner and method”- of ejection alleged is that the conductor stopped the car at a place many hundred feet away from a regular stop, and “after it was stopped petitioner was ejected therefrom.” There is no allegation from which it can be deduced that unnecessary force was used. The plaintiff admits that he refused to pay fare and that the car was stopped so as to give him an opportunity to leave it. No complaint is made that he was not given time to leave the car. It was a part of his ease to show that excessive force was used; he does not allege it. If the bruises on the arms and body were the result of his resistance of the conductor’s effort to eject him, and the force used was not excessive, the carrier is not liable for such injuries. He complains that he was put off “many hundred feet from a regular stopping-place,” but no complaint is made that the place was an improper one to alight from the car in safety. We do not understand the law to be that one who boards an interurban railway car to be transported as a passenger, and who refuses to pay his fare because not given a seat, has the right to demand that he be carried to the next regular stopping-place. When he refuses to accept the carrier’s accommodation and the carrier gives him an opportunity to leave the car at a proper place in safety, he must leave the car; otherwise he may be lawfully ejected.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROSSMAN v. GEORGIA RAILWAY & POWER COMPANY
- Status
- Published