De Yoe v. Seattle Electric Co.

Citations

• 53 Wash. 588
• 102 P. 446
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1371

Syllabus

<p>Carriers — Injury to Passengers — Street Cars — Sudden Jerks— Presumptions — Res Ipsa Loquitur — Evidence—Sufficiency. There is no presumption of negligence in the starting of a cable car on a steep grade with a sudden jerk, whereby a passenger standing in front was thrown against a window which broke and injured a passenger inside, where jerks in starting were frequent and unavoidable; and there being no other evidence of negligence or any showing as to whether the standing passenger was negligent, a judgment is properly directed for defendant notwithstanding a verdict for the plaintiff.</p> <p>Same. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, as applied to negligence cases, applies only where the accident, in the light of ordinary experience, is inexplicable except as the result of negligence.</p> <p>Rudkin, C. J., Fullerton, Chadwick, and Dunbar, JJ., dissent.</p>