288 Mass. 253 | Mass. | 1934
This is an action of tort to recover compensation for personal injuries, alleged to have been received by the plaintiff through the gross negligence of the defendant whose guest she was in an automobile driven by him. The defendant, a nephew of the plaintiff, started in the forenoon of a clear day from the plaintiff’s house in New Bedford, with her and her ten-year-old son, to drive to the home of his mother in Framingham. The automobile was of the. coupé type, and all three sat on the same seat. The roads were dry. At some point on the road the defendant turned from a straight, wide cement highway on to a “tar road” sixteen feet in width with a dirt shoulder on each side of about two and a half feet. The road waé in good condition with occasional curves. Upon taking this road the defendant stated in reply to a question of the plaintiff, “This is a short cut road and we will get there half an hour sooner.” After leaving the cement road the defendant travelled to the right of the middle line of the way on the tar at a speed of between twenty-five and thirty miles an hour. The accident happened because the automobile came in contact with a large tree about seven feet to the right of the gravel shoulder of the road. At a point about seventy-five feet before reaching the tree the automobile
A motion for a directed verdict in favor of the defendant was granted. In this there was no error. The plaintiff, being the guest of the defendant, in order to recover must prove gross negligence on his part. This she failed to do. The case falls within the authority of Cook v. Cole, 273 Mass. 557, Shriear v. Feigelson, 248 Mass. 432, 436, Stetson v. Howard, 284 Mass. 208, and Perkins v. Gardner, 287 Mass. 114. The governing principles of law are well settled and need no amplification as applied to the facts of this case.
Exceptions overruled.