Sandler v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.

Esther Sandler v. Boston Elevated Railway Company

Sandler v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 130 N.E. 104 (Mass. 1921)

Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · State Highest Courts
Decided: March 7, 1921
Citations: 130 N.E. 104238 Mass. 1481921 Mass. LEXIS 925

Cited by 7

Headnotes

Negligence, Street railway, Res ipso loquitur. Evidence, Presumptions and burden of proof. If, at the trial of an action of tort by a woman against a street railway company for personal injuries received by the plaintiff when a passenger, the plaintiff testified that, when she was seated in a car of the defendant which was “going fast,” she “heard a crash and the car gave a bang and” she fell to the floor, and other evidence tended merely to show that there had been a collision between the street car and a motor truck in front of it at intersecting streets, the doctrine of res ipso loquitur does not apply and a verdict for the plaintiff would not be warranted.

Summary

Tort for personal injuries alleged to have been received when the plaintiff was a passenger upon an electric street car of the defendant. Writ dated October 8, 1914. In the Superior Court, the action was tried before Cox, J., who, at the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, which is described in the opinion, ordered a verdict for the defendant and reported the action to this court for determination, the parties agreeing that, if this court should be of the opinion that there was any evidence upon which the plaintiff was entitled to go to the jury, judgment was to be entered for the plaintiff in the sum of $1,000; otherwise, the verdict was to stand.

Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.

Opinion of the Court

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By the Court.

The plaintiff, a passenger seated within one of the defendant’s trolley cars “going fast” on a public street, “heard a crash and the car gave a bang and I fell right down on the floor” of the car and received injuries. Other witnesses testified that at intersecting streets an automobile truck was in collision with and in front of the trolley car. There was no evidence concerning the manner in which the truck and car came into collision. There is nothing in these facts to show any negligence on the part of the defendant. The doctrine of res ipso loquitur has no application to these facts. The case is within the authority of many decisions. Niland v. Boston Elevated Railway, 213 Mass. 522 . Stangy v. Boston Elevated Railway, 220 Mass. 414 . McNiff v. Boston Elevated Railway, 234 Mass. 252 . The case is plainly distinguishable from Magee v. New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, 195 Mass. 111, 113 , Doherty v. Boston & Northern Street Railway, 207 Mass. 27 , and cases of that nature on which the plaintiff relies.

Verdict to stand.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

Cited by 7 cases

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Relies on it most ⓘ

Vogt v. Cincinnati, Newport & Covington Street Ry. Co.229 S.W.2d 461 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950)
Reardon v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.141 N.E. 857 (Mass. 1923)
Washburn v. R. F. Owens Co.252 Mass. 47 (1925)
O'Neill v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.248 Mass. 362 (1924)
Cuddyer v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.51 N.E.2d 244 (Mass. 1943)
Cohen v. Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Co.266 Mass. 283 (1929)

Most recent

Vogt v. Cincinnati, Newport & Covington Street Ry. Co.229 S.W.2d 461 (Ky. Ct. App. 1950)
Cuddyer v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.51 N.E.2d 244 (Mass. 1943)
Chick v. Obey5 Mass. App. Div. 153 (1940)
Cohen v. Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Co.266 Mass. 283 (1929)
Washburn v. R. F. Owens Co.252 Mass. 47 (1925)
O'Neill v. Boston Elevated Railway Co.248 Mass. 362 (1924)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 5

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Stangy v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 220 Mass. 414 (1915)	24
	Magee v. N.Y., New Haven, & Hartford R.R., 80 N.E. 689 (Mass. 1907)	18
	Doherty v. Boston & Northern St. Ry. Co., 92 N.E. 1026 (Mass. 1910)	9
	McNiff v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 234 Mass. 252 (1919)	9
	Niland v. Boston Elevated Ry. Co., 100 N.E. 554 (Mass. 1913)	8

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