Wе are concerned here with two cases, one brought by Pierrette Gendron, a minor, who seeks to recover damages against her brother, Roger Gendron, for personal injuries suffered because of his alleged negligence while she was a passenger in his automobile when the car driven by him left the highway and crashed into a telephone pole; the other brought by her father, who was also a passenger, to recover for hospital bills, for expenses for medical care and treatment, and fоr loss of income of his minor daughter, all of which expenses and loss were occasioned by the accident. A jury returned a verdict of $6,000 for the daughter and $2,000 for the father. Both cases are before us on general motions for new trials.
The parties on April 11, 1948 were returning from a trip to Canada in the defendаnt’s automobile. The defendant was driving, next to him on the front seat was his sister, Pierrette, and next to her on the оutside was a younger brother. The father, Floria, was asleep on the back seat. When near Bethеl the car suddenly left the road without warning and struck a pole beside the road. Pierrette was severely injured. It had been raining on the way back with intermittent snow flurries in Vermont. It is not clear whether there was any snow оn the road, but the testimony indicates that there was not. There is not a suggestion that it was icy. When the acсident happened at about half past eleven it was dark and raining. The conditions were typicаl of what would be encountered in this area in the early spring. Counsel for the defendant argue that the сar skidded. The evidence does not support such allegation. The plaintiff, Pierrette, says in her written stаtement that the car skidded and went off the road, but from her whole
If there were no explanation of what caused the car to leаve the road, the rule laid down in Chaisson v. Williams,
“Where an automobile, and the operation thereof, are еxclusively within the control of the defendant, whose guest is injured, and it is not reasonably in the power of such guest to prove the cause of the accident, which is one not commonly incident, according to everyday experience, to the operation of an automobile, the occurrence itself, although unexplained, is prima facie evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant. Res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself.”
But to sustain the jury’s verdict it is not necessary to rely on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. There was ample evidence from which the jury could have found that the defendant fell asleep at the wheel. He told the deputy sheriff who investigated the accident that he fell asleep, and he gave the same explanation to his sister and his father. There is nothing in the evidence to show any other reason for the accident. If the defendant was asleep there is sufficient to warrant an inference of negligence. The Connecticut court has in our opinion stated the rule correctly
“In any ordinаry case, one cannot go to sleep while driving an automobile without having relaxed the vigilance which the law requires, without having been negligent; it lies within his own control to keep awake or ceasе from driving; and so the mere fact of his going to sleep while driving is a proper basis for an inference of negligence sufficient to make out a prima facie case, and sufficient for a recovery, if no circumstances tending to excuse or justify his conduct are proven.”
It is argued in support of the mоtions that the damages are excessive. In so far as the father’s case is concerned, he hаs spent $750.35 in medical and hospital bills and incidentals. After his daughter graduated from high school in June she was unable to go to work until the following January. During that period she lost in wages approximately $650 to which her father would have been entitled, and there was evidence from which a jury would have been justified in finding that he would hаve to pay further medical bills and that her earning capacity during her minority may be less than it would have been if she had not been injured. We cannot hold that the verdict in favor of the father is unreasonable.
Shе was awarded $6,000. She was in bed eight weeks in the hospital and was unable to walk for another month after she got home. She could not work until the following January. Her pelvis was fractured and she had great pain аnd discomfort for a considerable time, and there is evidence of changes in the sacro-iliaс joint and in the spine which may cause permanent trouble. On these facts which are not in serious dispute, we certainly cannot say that the sum awarded by the jury is manifestly excessive.
Motions overruled.