Florida Railway Co. v. Dorsey

Citations

• 59 Fla. 260

Syllabus

<p>1. In an action by a passenger against a railroad company allegations that the defendant in operating ' and running its trains did not stop long enough to allow the plaintiff a reasonable time to alight from the car, but carelessly and negligently started said train, and carelessly put said train in violent quick motion, which said careless and negligent act threw the plaintiff violently to the ground by means of which she was injured in a specified way, states a single cause of action.</p> <p>2. Where testimony covered by special pleas is admitted under a plea of general issue, the action of the court in striking the special pleas need not be reviewed, since no harm could have resulted from striking the special pleas.</p> <p>S. In an action to recover damages for a mere negligent injury, not charged to have been wilfully, wantonly or maliciously done, where the injury would not have occurred but for the negligence of the plaintiff even though the defendant was negligent as alleged, the plaintiff having proximately. contributed to the efficient cause of his own injury, cannot in general recover damages under the common law rule that where both parties are at fault the law will leave them to the consequences of their own wrong.</p> <p>4. To constitute such contributory negligence as bars recovery, the plaintiff’s negligence must have been a portion of the efficient proximate cause of the injury, and the defendant’s negligence must not have been wilful, wanton or malicious. If the injury was caused solely by the plaintiff’s negligence, of course the defendant is not liable.</p> <p>5. Public policy requires that every one shall exercise reasonable care and diligence for the protection of his own person and property; and when his failure to do this concurs with the mere negligence of another and proximately causes the injury there can be no recovery tinder the common law rule.</p> <p>6. The common law rule of non-liability of a merely negligent defendant when the pla