Forbes v. Los Angeles Railway Corp.

WOOD (W. J.), J. Plaintiff, an elderly lady, commenced this action to recover for injuries which she received when she was crowded from a streetcar operated by defendant. A jury returned a verdict in defendant’s favor and plaintiff has appealed from the resulting judgment.

Plaintiff boarded defendant’s southbound streetcar at the corner of Fourth Street and Broadway in the city of Los Angeles about 3:15 p. m. on Jaunary 9, 1943. She placed her suitcase at a place which the conductor indicated was a proper location for it. At that time the car was not crowded but there were vacant seats. Before the car arrived at plaintiff’s destination, 30th and Main Streets, it became “terribly crowded.” There were approximately 25 people standing on [796]the rear platform in the neighborhood of the conductor’s station. As plaintiff edged her way toward the rear exit she was informed by the conductor that her suitcase had been removed and placed in the corner of the car opposite the entrance. The suitcase was lifted by the other passengers and passed over their heads, the conductor assisting. At this time the car had come to a stop and plaintiff was about 18 inches from the top of the first step leading down from the platform. There was no door at this exit. As plaintiff received the suitcase she was unable to turn around with the suitcase in her hand because the passengers had contacted her body on both sides and in front of her but not at her rear. .As the passengers settled down after passing the suitcase they crowded plaintiff so that she was pushed out of the exit. She attempted to grasp the railing for support but could not hold on. She fell to the pavement, receiving the injuries for which recovery is sought.

The instructions given by the court to the jury were so unfair to plaintiff that the judgment must be reversed. Although many instructions were given, most of them referred to general rules which are applicable to all personal injury actions. On the vital question of negligence of the defendant in crowding its car the court gave this brief instruction to the jury: “It is the law of the State of California, by statute, that a carrier of persons for reward must not overcrowd or overload his vehicle.” The jury was not instructed that a violation of this statutory provision constitutes negligence as a matter of law. Plaintiff requested such an instruction and was unquestionably entitled to have it given. In attempting to justify the court’s refusal to give such an instruction defendant states that the vehicles of every carrier of passengers in California have been overcrowded, claiming that the responsibility is “in the laps of Hitler et al.” Defendant further states that it is an every day occurrence in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles for passengers to be “not only standing in the street ears and motor buses, but riding on the steps and clinging to the fenders.” Notwithstanding transportation difficulties during war time, the statute in question was and is in force and plaintiff was entitled to have her conduct and that of defendant measured by its provisions. We need not pass upon the question of ethics involved, whether carriers are justified in overloading their vehicles during the present emergency. The enforcement of the rule in cases like the present one does not work undue hardship upon the car