210 Mass. 324 | Mass. | 1911
It is urged by the defendant that as the declaration contained no general allegation of negligence but only the specific averment that the defendant provided an insufficient
The plaintiff was a passenger and, when the train came to a stop at the station where he was to alight, the brakeman' or baggage master announced the station, opened and pushed back the door of the car upon the metal catch, which closed and should have held it securely in place. In passing out but one passenger, who did not touch the door, preceded him, and as he followed and stepped over the threshold, the door, although he did not come in contact with it, unclasped and closing caught and injured his hand. It would follow that the plaintiff was injured while taking his departure under conditions established by the carrier, and had the right to assume that reasonable precautions had been taken to enable him to leave in safety, and if the accident happened as described by him, a finding that he exercised ordinary care would have been justified. Carroll v. Boston & Northern Street Railway, 186 Mass. 97. The defendant provided the device and used it while passengers were making their exit. The car was at rest, and there having been no unusual jolt or intervening cause ordinarily incident to this mode of travel which unloosed the door, the jury, judging from their common experience and knowledge, could have found, that unless the catch was in some way defective it would have worked properly and the door would not have instantaneously closed. Silverman v. Carr, 200 Mass. 396, 398. Wadsworth v. Boston Elevated Railway, 182 Mass. 572, 574.
But the defendant, relying on the plaintiff’s evidence that when the car stopped it was somewhat inclined from the side on which the door was hinged, contends that this slight shifting of the centre of gravity created an unusual strain sufficient of itself to explain the mechanical action of the catch. Yet even then the sufficiency of the catch was a question of fact. Carroll v. Boston Elevated Railway, 200 Mass. 527, 536. The jury might have been satisfied that if suitable, it would not
We are unable for these reasons to distinguish in principle the case at bar from Silva v. Boston & Maine Railroad, 204 Mass. 63, where our previous decisions bearing upon the questions raised are collected and reviewed.
Exceptions sustained.