Gress v. Missouri Pacific Railway Co.
Gress v. Missouri Pacific Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been occasioned by the negligence of the defendant. Under the pleadings the issues which the court was required to determine were (1), whether or not the defendant negligently failed to stop its train at its station for a sufficient length of time to enable the plaintiff with safety to leave it; (2), if it — the.defendant—did not so stop whether or not the plaintiff was in consequence thereof injured; and (3), if he was so injured, then whether or not he was himself guilty of contributory negligence. The cause was tried to a jury. At the conclusion of the evidence the defendant interposed a demurrer thereto which was by the court denied.
An examination of the record has convinced us that the evidence introduced was sufficient to entitle the plaintiff to go to the jury on the first issue — that is to say, that of defendant’s negligence. It appears that the plaintiff — a man nearly eighty years of age
It is needless to say that it was the duty of the defendant to stop the train at its station long enough to allow passengers acting expeditiously to leave it in safety. [Richmond v. Railroad, 49 Mo. App. 104, and authorities there cited.] And we think the evidence here tends to show a most palpable neglect of this duty for the injurious consequences of which there ought to be liability.
Eespecting the issue as to whether or not the defendant’s charge that plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence is well grounded, it may be observed that when the plaintiff undertook to leave the train it was moving, according to the testimony of some of plaintiff’s witnesses, from ten to twelve miles an hour. It is not negligence per se for a passenger to jump from a train which is. moving. [Murphy v. Railroad, 43 Mo. App. l. c. 348; Richmond v. Railroad, ante; Beach on Contrib. Negl., see. 53.] Whether or not a railway company shall be held liable in damages for injuries sustained by a passenger attempting to leave one of its cars while it is in motion will depend on all the circumstances as to whether it was prudent for him to make the attempt. When an injury has been received by the reckless actpf a passenger in an attempt to leave the train while it is in motion, no recovery can be had although the company may have disregarded a duty imposed by law in failing to stop at a station. So when a railway company fails to bring its train to a full stop at a station, or if after it fails to do so it starts before the passengers acting expeditiously have time to safely leave the train, it will be liable in damages for injuries sustained by a passenger in attempting to get off, if, under all the circumstances, it was prudent for him to do so. The circumstances of
The circumstances to be considered in determining the question whether or not the plaintiff in such case is guilty of contributory negligence, or want of ordinary care, are such as, speed of train, conduct of the conductor, the age and activity of the plaintiff — and the like. [Richmond v. Railroad, ante, l. c. 108.] In Murphy v. Railroad, already cited, the opinion was expressed that it was not necessarily negligent for a person to attempt to get off or on a train moving at the rate of four miles an hour. If the plaintiff attempted to leave the defendant’s train when it was moving, as some of the witnesses testified it was, at the rate of five miles and upwards an hour, the court was warranted in declaring, as a matter of law, that it was a reckless and imprudent exposure of his person to a peril for which the defendant could not be held responsible. But if, as testified by others, the train was not moving at a greater rate of speed than three miles an hour, it seems to us that the case thus presented is one where men of ordinary intelligence might reasonably differ as to the hazard of the act, and it was therefore one for the determination of the jury.
When the facts of a case are undisputed and are such that reasonable minds can draw no other conclusion than that the plaintiff was in fault, then the court can determine the question of contributory negligence as one at law. [Fowler v. Randall, 99 Mo. App. l. c. 414.] Whether or not it was prudent for the plaintiff, under the circumstances disclosed by the evidence, to have
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MICHAEL GRESS v. THE MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published