Smedley v. Hestonville, Mantua & Fairmount Passenger Railway Co.
Smedley v. Hestonville, Mantua & Fairmount Passenger Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
There could not be any doubt that the accident which caused the plaintiff’s injury resulted in some way from the condition of the track at the place where the car left the track. It was shown by abundant testimony, and not at all contradicted, that at the place of the accident, the bed of the street had been dug out for the purpose of changing the track from the old horse car system to the kind of track required for the new electric system. New rails were being laid and, for the purpose of continuing the travel while the work was going on, the old rails and the new were kept in a condition of temporary union at the ends, so that the cars could pass from the rails of the one system to those of the other. At the very moment of the accident the car had passed from the new rails and was on the old rails. There was quite a depression in the bed of the road caused by the excavation which had been made, and into this depression or excavation the front wheels of the car dropped with sufficient
The assignments of error are all dismissed.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Clara Fisher Smedley v. Hestonville, Mantua & Fairmount Passenger Railway Company
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Negligence—Street railways—Province of court and jury—Passenger. In an action by a passenger against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries', the uncontradicted evidence was that, at the place of the accident, the bed of the street had been dug out for the purpose of changing the track from the old horse car system to the kind of track required for the new electric system. New rails were being laid and, for the purpose of continuing the travel while the work was going on, the old rails and the new were kept in a condition of temporary union at the ends, so that the cars could pass from the rails of one system to those of the other. At the very moment of the accident the car had passed from the new rails and was on the old rails. There was quite a depression in the bed of the road caused by the excavation which had been made, and into this depression or excavation the front wheels of the car dropped with sufficient force to throw the passengers with considerable violence from their positions on the seats, and plaintiff was injured. Held, that the case was for the jury, and that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained. Negligence—Street railways—Damages—Measure of damages. It is rather within than beyond the usual instructions in actions of trespass to recover damages for personal injuries, for the trial judge to charge 'the jury that they can give only such damages as will compensate for her 'injury, “ allowing her damages for the pain and suffering which she has 'undergone in the past and is likely to undergo in the future, and any permanent injury which you may deem she has suffered, and also any expense ■which she has been put to in the way of obtaining relief.”