126 Wis. 271 | Wis. | 1905
Lead Opinion
The plaintiff claims that the defendant was guilty of negligence in that he failed to keep the table bed over the slasher saw, described in the foregoing statement of facts, sufficiently supported to make it reasonably safe for its purposes in the operation of the mill. Defendant starts with the assertion that plaintiff has wholly failed to make out his case, and then proceeds to argue that no actionable negligence is shown because plaintiff’s injuries were the result of an accidental slipping, which defendant claims occurred without his fault, and which he contends was the proximate cause of the injuries. The court properly submitted the questions of defendant’s negligence and of plaintiff’s contributory negligence to the jury, and, since they resolved all the submitted questions in plaintiff’s favor, it follows that they found the defendant guilty of the negligence charged in the complaint and that plaintiff was free from any want of ordinary care contributing to produce the injury. Mo grounds for disturbing such findings have been pointed out to us, nor do we perceive any that would justify the holding that the evidence in the case does
The question presented resolves itself to the contention that the alleged negligence was not the proximate cause of plaintiffs injuries. This is based upon the grounds: First, that plaintiffs injuries were not the natural consequence of the alleged negligence, but that, without the fault of the defendant, 'they were the result of his accidentally slipping and falling ; and, secondly, that, if defendant was guilty of the negligence charged, it is not actionable because he as a person of ordinary intelligence and prudence could not under the circumstances have anticipated that a personal injury to another might probably result from such negligence. The question thus presented is, Were the injuries the natural result of the alleged negligence in not providing the slasher table bed with proper support and thereby causing plaintiff to come in contact with the saw, or were they the result of his accidental slipping on the decking of the roller line before coming into contact with the table bed ? The solution depends upon whether under the circumstances the injuries would have resulted except for defendant’s negligence. If it is shown that the resultant injuries would not have occurred had the defendant’s negligence not been involved in the accident, then we are logically led to the conclusion that the negligence was the real producing cause of the injurious consequences.
Under such circumstances, the fact that other conditions and events, not the result of plaintiff’s fault, were involved does not relieve the negligent defendant from responsibility. From the time his negligent acts occur, the ensuing conse’quences flow from and become attributable to his conduct as the cause which controlled and led to- the final event, and his-negligence thus becomes the efficient cause and is proximate-:in its character, if he ought reasonably to have foreseen that a personal injury might result therefrom. The other sur
It is further contended that, if the resulting injuries are the natural result of defendant’s negligence, then under the
“It is not required that the ‘specific’ injury or ‘such’ an injury as is complained of was or ought to have been specifically anticipated as the natural and probable consequences of the wrongful act. It is sufficient if the facts and circumstances are such that the consequences attributable to the wrongful conduct charged are within the field of reasonable anticipation.” Morey v. L. S. & T. R. Co. 125 Wis. 148, 103 N. W. 271, and cases cited.
An. exception is urged to the refusal of the court to instruct as requested on the question of defendant’s having provided a passageway for plaintiff to reach his place of labor other than by going along the roller line, and that his failure to use this passage was contributory negligence. An examination of the charge discloses that the point was fully and correctly covered by the instructions given, and no error was committed by this refusal. The verdict shows that the jury found that plaintiff was free from negligence contributing to the injuries.
By the Gourt. — Judgment affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
(concurring). I concur fully in the result in this case, hut wish to add a few words to prevent what it seems to me may be a possible misconception of the effect not only of this decision, but also of the decision in the case of Yess v. Chicago Brass Co. 124 Wis. 406, 102 N. W. 932. The two cases are substantially parallel so far as the questions presented in this court are concerned, and the misconception which I fear is that they may be regarded as holding that there may be in the legal sense a first or an initial cause which is not the proximate cause; i. e. that there may he a first or initial cause setting in motion a subsequent chain of events resulting finally in the injury which is not the responsible cause, but that some subsequent event may come into the chain and become the proximate or responsible cause. This idea is erroneous. I do not think it can be reasonably gathered from the opinions in the two cases named, but I fear that there may be such an impression produced.
“Eirst cause,” “initial cause,” “efficient cause,” and. “proximate cause” all mean the same thing in the law of negligence. They mean the cause acting first and immediately producing the injury, or setting other causes in motion, all constituting a natural and continuous chain of events each having a close causal connection with its immediate predecessor; the final event in the chain immediately effecting the injury as a natural and probable result of the cause which first acted, and the person responsible for the first event having reasonable ground to expect at the moment of his act or default that a personal injury to some person might probably result therefrom. There may be pre-existing conditions or events without which the final injury could not have happened, such as the momentary shying of a horse on a defective highway, the inadvertent and nonnegligent misstep of a traveler into a dangerous excavation close to the sidewalk, or, as in the present case and the Yess Case, the nonnegligent misstep or slip upon the floor or passage; but none of these is to be deemed a cause of the final