Budner v. Public Service Corp.
Budner v. Public Service Corp.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiff’s intestate died in consequence of the fracture of his skull, received by falling from a ear of the defendant, upon which he was a passenger, to the pavement in Albany street, New Brunswick. The deceased was at the corner of Albany and Nelson streets with Mary Kindle waiting for the car. He hoarded it at that point, and while proceeding through Albany street, he fell off the car, about two hundred feet from Nelson street, and was killed.
The plaintiff having obtained a verdict against the defendant, the defendant seeks to set aside that verdict by this rule to show cause.
At another place Sabo testified that when the deceased was ordered off the car he went back to the rear, facing two of the poles with handles on them, reaching over the other one, reaching for the third one, then the car gave him a sudden jerk when they put on full force and then he fell, and that he saw the jar or jerk two hundred feet away.
Mary Kindle boarded the car at the same time as the deceased ; testifies to his attempting to get on the front platform, being told by the motorman, “Here get out of here,55 and the deceased stepped back and he came back about two feet; he had hold of the handle, was leaning down, was looking, and tried to come back four seats where she was standing. Lesko had hold by the handle, she saw him only once falling down and the car gave just a jerk and he fell down. She also testifies that the jerk was sufficient to throw her hat back.
The deceased having been ordered by the motonnan from the front platform, and while he was obeying the motonnan’s instructions, the speed was changed, it ivas for the jury to say whether the change of speed in the car evinced a disregard by the motorman of the safety of the deceased. Corkhill v. Camden Suburban Railway Co., 40 Vroom 97, 99.
The question of the negligence of the defendant was properly submitted to the jury, but more than a dozen -witnesses upon the car that the deceased fell off testified that they fell no jar or jerk of the car, and seven -witnesses testified tha1 when the deceased was on the run-board after the car started, his hat blew off and he reached or jumped for it and thus fell off the car and down upon the pavement and was injured.
The verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence, and the rule to show cause is made absolute.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.