Whilе William Merrill, Jr., and his wife were on an automobile trip and had with thеm as their guest Billy Beckwith, a boy eight years of age, the automobile suddenly swerved and turned over. At the time of the acсident Merrill was driving and the boy was between him and Mrs. Merrill on the samе seat. As a result of the accident Morrill was killed, the cause of death being either a punctured lung or a broken vеrtebra. Billy Beck-with’s skull was fractured; and he recovered judgment against the executrix of Merrill’s estate based upon Merrill’s negligence in driving at an excessive and dangerous ratе of speed, and with knowledge that the automobile was not steering properly but was veering on the highway. Merrill’s negligence is conceded, but appellant urges that the judgment shоuld be reversed because there was no proof thаt Merrill lived until Billy Beckwith received his injury. The point was sufficiently raisеd by a motion for a directed verdict. Mrs. Merrill testified that she fainted as the automobile turned over while it was going at a speed of more than 55 miles per hour, and that when she regained consciousness her husband was dead; but she was unable tо say how long she remained unconscious. There was no other testimony to indicate any lapse of time between the wreck of the automobile and Merrill’s death, and it is therеfore argued that the proof submitted failed to show that thе cause of action asserted by Billy Beckwith accrued during Merrill’s lifetime.
Article 5525 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, enacted in 1925, provides that causes of action for personаl injuries or injuries resulting in death shall not abate because of the death of the person against whom sneh cause оf action shall have accrued; but in such ease the сause of action shall survive, and may be instituted and prosеcuted as if the person against whom it accrued wore alive. The object of this statute is to create a liability which, as was early recognized in Watson v. Loop,
The judgment is affirmed.