Steuer v. Metropolitan Street Railway Co. — 46 A.D. 500

Majority

p. 500

Samuel Steuer, as Administrator, etc., of Israel Steuer, Deceased, Appellant, v, Metropolitan Street Railway Company, Respondent.

Headnote

• Negligence— a passenger hilled instepping loithout notice from amoving car.

Where a passenger upon a horse car while the car is moving steps from the front platform with his back to the horses without notifying the conductor or driver of his intention to do so and is thrown down and killed, the railroad corpora- ■ tion is not liable for the damages' resulting from his."death., .,

p. 501

Appeal by the plaintiff, Samuel ■ Steuer, as-administrator, etc., of Israel Steuer, deceased, from, a judgment of the Supreme Court in favor of the defendant, entered in the office of the clerk of the county .of New York on the 23d day of May, 1899, upon the verdict of a jury rendered by direction of the court.

George F. Roesch, for the appellant.

Charles F. Brown, for the respondent.

We think that the judgment in this case should be affirmed. Upon a careful examination of the evidence the conclusion is irresistible that the deceased attempted to get off the car, upon the front platform of which he was riding, not only while it was in motiomjbut without giving any notice whatever of his intention to alight either to the conductor or the driver. ' It is undoubtedly true that the car had stopped and some people had alighted, but when the deceased attempted to get off the car it was in motion, and he had given no notice whatever to the persons in charge of the car of his desire or intention to alight. Neither the driver nor the conductor had any reason to suspect any intention upon the part of the deceased to leave the car,'and he stepped off the car with his back toward the horses with the usual result, even when a car is moving quite slowly.. Under these circumstances it is difficult to see upon what negligence on the part of the defendant can be predicated. If parties attempt to alight from a car, having given no information or indication to" the persons in charge of their intention so to do, there is no negligence upon the part of the driver of the car in increasing its speed to the rate at which it can ordinarily proceed with safety. While conductors and drivers of street railway cars are bound to use diligence in looking after the safety of their passengers, they have no reason to anticipate 'that passengers will attempt to alight from moving cars.

The judgment should be affirmed, with costs.

Rumsey, Patterson, O’Brien and Ingraham, JJ., concurred.

Judgment affirmed, with costs.