Luckett v. Reighard

Citations

• 248 Pa. 24
• 93 A. 773
• 1915 Pa. LEXIS 506

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Automobiles — Master and servant — Employee of garage — Returning car to garage — Scope of employment — Deviation from route — Case for jury — Trial—Admission of hearsay without objection — Motion to strike out.</p> <p>1. In an action against a garage owner to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the negligent operation of an automobile while being driven by defendant’s employee, who was returning the car to the garage .after having taken its owner to his home, the case was for the jury and a verdict for the plaintiff will be sustained where the evidence was conflicting as to whether the sum paid monthly by the owner of the car to the garage keeper included payment of services of defendant’s employees in driving the car to and from its owner’s home, and where, at the time of the accident, the deviation from the direct route of return to the garage was not so great as to warrant the conclusion of law that defendant’s employee was acting outside the scope of his employment.</p> <p>2. Where on the trial of such case the owner of the car testified as to a matter which was purely hearsay, and the question when asked was not .objected to and no motion was made then or immediately after the cross-examination'of the witness to strike his answer from the record, the court did not err in refusing to strike such answer from the record the following day of the trial after the defendant had moved for a nonsuit, and opened his case to the jury and in permitting such testimony to be considered by the jury.</p> <p>3. In an action to recover damages for injuries received by being struck by an automobile, the plaintiff must show that the relation of master and servant existed between the defendant and the person in charge of the car at the time of the accident, that the servant was engaged in his master’s business, and was acting within the scope of his employment at the time the tortious act was committed resulting in injury to the plaintiff. The servan