Nagle v. California Southern Railroad

Citations

• 88 Cal. 86
• 25 P. 1106
• 1891 Cal. LEXIS 649

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Responsibility op Railroad Company — Safety of Passengers. — Although a railroad company is responsible for the safety of its passengers, as far as human care and foresight will go, for the utmost care and diligence of very cautious persons, and for the slightest neglect, yet it cannot he held to the responsibility of warranting the safety of its passengers at all events.</p> <p>Id. — Contributory Negligence of Passenger—Question of Law.— It is for the court on the undisputed facts to determine whether or not the passenger was guilty of negligence which contributed to the injury sustained by him.</p> <p>Id,—Nonsuit — Evidence of Plaintiff—Burden of Proof.—A non-suit is proper when the evidence of the plaintiff so conclusively establishes his contributory negligence that the court would grant a new trial in case of a verdict in his favor upon the same evidence; and the fact that the burden of proof may be upon the defendant to establish the contributory negligence of the plaintiff will not preclude such nonsuit.</p> <p>Id.—Negligence of Passenger in Alighting from Train — Mistake of Fellow-passengers. — Contributory negligence is attributable to a passenger who, without any intimation from the train-men that it is his stopping-place, while the train is halting a moment upon a trestle, alights hurriedly in the dark, without carefully looking for a place to alight, and sustains injury from falling into a canon beneath the trestle; and this, notwithstanding other passengers believed that it was a regular station, and some of them were preparing to leave the train, and the plaintiff was told by one of the passengers to get out quick, as the train would only stop a moment.</p>