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307 Mass. 167

Baczek v. Damian

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided October 31, 1940

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1940-10-31

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently December 1946

5 state decisions

Relies on Bilodeau v. Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway Co. · McGuiggan v. Atkinson · Legg v. Bloom

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1940-10-31

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Ronan, J.

¶1In this action of tort to recover for personal injuries there was evidence tending to show that the plaintiff, before attempting to cross the highway, looked in both directions and the only vehicle he saw was that of the defendant which was approaching from his right and was then two hundred feet away, and that when he had reached the shoulder of the further side of the street, which was thirty-two feet wide, he was struck by the defendant’s automobile. The street was well lighted and was straight for the distance of eight hundred feet in the direction from which the defendant had come. The defendant, however, did not see the plaintiff until he was only thirty-five feet away and the defendant, who was then proceeding at a speed of fifteen to twenty miles an hour, slowed down, struck the plaintiff,, and stopped. The plaintiff admitted that he had drunk intoxicating liquor shortly before the accident but denied that he was intoxicated. The defendant introduced considerable evidence to show that the plaintiff was intoxicated. The plaintiff had a verdict but the judge, under leave reserved, entered a verdict for the defendant, subject to the plaintiff’s exception.

¶2It is unnecessary to narrate further the evidence for enough has been stated to show that the negligence of the defendant and the contributory negligence of the plaintiff were properly submitted to the jury. Pitts v. Coulson, 265 Mass. 366. McGuiggan v. Atkinson, 278 Mass. 264. McSorley v. Risdon, 278 Mass. 415. Legg v. Bloom, 282 Mass. 303. Noyes v. Whiting, 289 Mass. 270. Nicholson v. Babb, 304 Mass. 216. If the plaintiff was intoxicated and this condition helped to bring about the accident, then he was barred from recovery. On the evidence, however, his sobriety was an issue for the jury. Bilodeau v. Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway, 236 Mass. 526. Labrecque v. Donham, 236 Mass. 10. Martin v. Florin, 273 Mass. 13.

¶3Exceptions sustained.

¶4Judgment on verdict returned by the jury.

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