Recent Important Decisions

Carriers of Passengers – Duty to Stop at Station to Permit Passenger to Alight-Contributory Negligence of Passenger Plaintiff’s intestate was riding in the front end of a crowded vestibule car in the coach next to the tender of the eengine. When the train stopped at his station he tried to leave by the front end, but found the door from the vestibule closed. As he did not know how to open it, or was unwilling to be carried by his station, he stepped from his platform to the bumper of the tender and tried to follow it to the side and alight from it. Before he could do so the engine started with a lurch, he was thrown down and killed. The evidence strongly tended to prove that he would have escaped serious injury if the engineer had understood and heeded the cries and signals given by fellow passengers. Held, for the jury to say whether so leaving the train under unusual circumstances was contributory negligence on the part of the passenger. Donially v. Payne (W. Va, 192), 109 S. E. 76o.