Sevier v. Southern Ry.
Sevier v. Southern Ry.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Plaintiff recovered judgment against defendant for five hundred dollars for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by her while a passenger on defendant’s train from Spartanburg to Campobello on August 1, 1906.
The testimony for plaintiff tended to show that the train did not stop a sufficient time to permit plaintiff to alight, and that when attempting to do so while the train was slowly moving forward she fell to the ground and was injured.
We do not think that the amendment allowed substantially changed the claim of plaintiff and, therefore, it was expressly permitted by sec. 194 of the Code of Procedure. Booth v. Langley Co., 51 S. C., 412, 29 S. E., 204; Rountree v. Railway, 72 S. C., 476, 52 S. E., 237. Section 190 of the Code provides that no variance between the allegation in a pleading and the proof shall be deemed material unless it has actually misled the adverse party to his prejudice, and it appears that counsel for defendant, upon the motion to direct a verdict stated that he had not been misled by the variance. The first and third exceptions, therefore, cannot be sustained.
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According to the testimony for plaintiff, the train was moving slowly, not over two miles per hour, and a witness for the defendant testified that the train had not moved more than the length of the car when plaintiff alighted.
The authorities in this State hold that it is not contributory negligence in law for a passenger to alight from a slowly moving train. Cooper v. Railway Co., 56 S. C., 94, 34 S. E., 16; Creech v. Railway, 66 S. C., 533, 45 S. E., 86. The rule is thus stated in Gyles v. Railway, 79 S. C., 177, 60 S. E., 433: “The rule of law declared in this State is that it is not negligence per se to board or alight from a moving train, unless the train is moving so fast as to make the danger of alighting or boarding obvious to a person of ordinary prudence, and that ordinarily it should be left to the jury to determine whether the passenger’s act is negligent under the circumstances.” If, however, it be admitted or conclusively shown that the speed of the train is high and dangerous it is contributory negligence in law to alight therefrom, the danger being obvious to a person of ordinary prudence. Smith v. Southern Railway, 80 S. C., 1. Under these authorities the matter of contributory negligence was properly submitted to the jury.
The judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed.
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- 1. Amending Pleadings. — Permitting a complaint alleging that defendant carrier wilfully and negligently, rapidly moved its cars as the passenger was attempting to alight, to be amended after motion for nonsuit, so as to conform to the proof, to allege the carrier negligently slowly moved its cars as the passenger was attempting to alight does not substantially change the claim of plaintiff and is not error, as defendant’s counsel announced he was not misled by the variance. 2. Contributory Negligence — Issues.—It is not contributory negligence per se for a passenger to alight from a slowly moving car, but it is a question for the jury under the circumstances of each case.