[Download] "Adamian v. Messerlian. Martin v. Same (Two" by Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Adamian v. Messerlian. Martin v. Same (Two
- Author : Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 01, 1935
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
RUGG, Chief Justice. The plaintiffs in these three actions of tort were guests in an automobile driven by the defendant. After verdicts for the plaintiffs the trial Judge, under leave reserved, ordered entered a verdict for the defendant in each case. The sole question presented is whether the evidence in its aspect most favorable to the plaintiffs warranted a finding of gross negligence on the part of the defendant as the cause of their injuries. There was evidence tending to show these facts: The accident happened about half past eleven o'clock on the night of December 31, 1929. The streets were particularly slippery and icy caused by rain or mist freezing on the ground. The defendant, having driven up the hill on Highland street, in Worcester, and having reached the top, began descending on the westerly side of the hill. The street was twenty-six feet eight inches wide, and the distance from the top of the hill to the place of the accident was nine hundred and eighty feet; there were three intersecting streets on each side in that distance. The automobile had no chains on the wheels. The street at this point was thickly settled. There was one other automobile going in the same direction which the defendant passed or tried to pass. Another automobile was coming on an intersecting street, but there is no evidence that it came upon Highland street. There was evidence that the speed of the defendant's automobile was at the rate of forty-five to fifty miles an hour. Two of the plaintiffs protested to the defendant as to his speed. The defendant turned to look at one protestant sitting on the back seat. The automobile began to skid and the defendant lost control of it at the top of the hill, and it continued to skid over the road and out of control. Notwithstanding that the defendant thought he did everything to regain control, it finally crashed into a tree on the right-hand side of the street. The guests were injured. There was also evidence that the automobile did not begin to skid until it had gone a considerable distance down the hill, and that the defendant attempted to check his speed by the use of his brake. There was no collision with any vehicle.