Smith v. Chicago & North Western Railway Co.
Smith v. Chicago & North Western Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
After a review of the record limited by the absence of a transcript of the trial testimony, the court concludes under the circumstances of this case the trial court did not commit reversbile error in failing to include the plaintiff’s requested instructions in its charge to the jury or in submitting the special verdict. In the first place, not every violation of a statute or ordinance constitutes negligence per se. Only where the statute is a “safety statute,” designed to protect a class of persons from a particular type of harm, is a violation negligence per se, and then only when the violation results in that type of harm to someone in the protected class. Meihost v. Meihost (1966), 29 Wis. 2d 537, 139 N. W. 2d 116.
In addition, it appears by the instructions actually given by the trial court, that the plaintiff was assumed to be a licensee rather than a trespasser on the train at the time of his injury. Cf. Shea v. Chicago, M., St. P. & P. RR. Co. (1943), 243 Wis. 253, 10 N. W. 2d 135. And finally, the question of whether the defendant
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Smith, by Guardian ad litem, and others v. Chicago & North Western Railway Company
- Status
- Published