(Download) "Conway v. Obrien" by United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Conway v. Obrien
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Release Date : January 29, 1940
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 52 KB
Description
This is an appeal from a judgment entered upon a verdict, holding the defendant, OBrien, liable for a collision between a motor car which he was driving and another car, driven by one Wilson, upon a little travelled country road inVermont. The plaintiff was a passenger in OBriens car, and her right of action for injurues depends upon the "Guest-Occupant" law of Vermont (Public Laws of Vermont § 5113), by which the operator of a motor is not liable for injures to "any occupant of the same" unless the operator receives pay for carrying the occupant, "or unless such injuries are caused by the gross or wilful negligence of the operator". The only point we shall consider is whether the evidence of the defendants "gross * * * negligence" was enough to support a verdict. The collision happened just south of a covered bridge crosdsing a small river running east and west; OBrien was going north, Wilson south, and the cars came together about twenty feet beyond the south end of the bridge. The jury was justified in finding that OBrien had been clear over on the west side of the road, until he saw Wilsons car come out from the bridge. Coming from the south the road runs almost east for some distance, and then turns on a radius of about sixty feet through an angle of about 70 degrees to enter the bridge. The road is seventeen feet wide at the widest part of the turn and fourteen to fifteen elsewhere, and is protected by a fence because the ground slops off sharply to the east. There is a down grade of aobut nine degrees approaching the bridge from the south, and the view to the left is somewhat obstructed until one gets fairly on the turn. OBriens car was going at only fifteen miles an hour (as to this there was curiously enough no dispute) but he did not blow his horn, or do anything to avoid collision until he saw Wilson emerge, when he swung sharply to the right so that the collision was between the left fore wheels of each car. Wilson swore that he was moving at two miles an hour, and that he blew a horn before entering the bridge. Any such speed is of course incredible, but the issue is not important, as his speed does not count in determining OBriens negligence. Only five or six families lived on the road, and the wheel tracks at the turn showed that it had been the custom to take it on the left side in order to make the turn more easily.
 "Conway v. Obrien" by United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}