Union Traction Co. v. Haney
Union Traction Co. v. Haney
Opinion of the Court
— Action to recover damages for personal injuries. Appellant operated an electric street railway from the city of Indianapolis to the town of Broad Ripple. Appellee was a passenger on one of appellant’s cars which at the time was being operated northward along and upon College avenue in the city of Indianapolis. When the car reached Forty-fifth street, which was a regular stop, appellant at the request of appellee stopped the car for the purpose of permitting appellee to alight. Because of the alleged negligence of appellant in erecting and maintaining its tracks above the grade of the street, appellee while attempting to alight fell to the pavement and was injured.
The complaint is in two paragraphs, each of which was by the trial court held sufficient to withstand a demurrer for want of facts. There was an answer in denial. A trial by the jury resulted in a verdict for appellee.
The first paragraph of complaint charges in substance, among other things, that the place where appellant stopped its car for the purpose of enabling appellee to alight, was an unsafe place to discharge passengers because of the great distance from the step of the car to the pavement; that this distance was due to the fact that appellant had negligently erected and maintained the rails of its tracks twenty-seven inches above the
The second paragraph is like the first, except that it contains the additional averment that appellant negligently failed to give or offer to appellee any assistance.
It is urged by appellant that in as much as there are no allegations in either paragraph of the complaint disclosing the usual circumstances in cases of this character, such as defective steps, darkness, obstructions, lurching of the car, etc.; and that since no physical infirmities of appellee are averred, the complaint does not show the existence of any duty on the part of appellant to protect appellee from injury. There is no merit in appellant’s contention. If, as averred in each paragraph of the complaint, appellee was required to step down a distance of more than three feet from the step of the car to the pavement, not knowing that the tracks at that point were twenty-seven inches above the grade of the street, and not knowing the extraordinary distance she would be required to step, and was not in a position to discover the condition which it is alleged made it dangerous to passengers attempting to alight; and if, as averred, appellant did know these facts, and
The instructions given by the court, when taken as a whole, fairly state the law of the case. Instructions requested by appellant, in so far as they correctly state the law, were covered by instructions given.
The verdict is sustained by the evidence.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.