292 Mass. 275 | Mass. | 1935
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 because of rain or mist freezing on the ground. The defendant, having driven up the hill on Highland Street, in Worcester, and having reached the top,
There was nó error in ordering the entry of verdicts in favor of the defendant. The skidding of the automobile in the circumstances disclosed was of itself no evidence of negligence. Lonergan v. American Railway Express Co. 250 Mass. 30, 35. There was evidence from which it might have been found that the defendant was driving at a greater speed than was reasonable and proper. G. L. c. 90, § 17. This with all the other factors, while evidence tending to show negligence, does not warrant a finding of gross negligence. It may well have been that the skidding, which does not appear to have been induced by conduct of the defendant, had no relation to these circumstances. Without reviewing the facts of particular decisions we are of opinion that the cases at bar-fall within the class of cases illustrated
In each case the entry may be
Judgment for the defendant.