Allerton v. Boston & Maine Railroad
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort by the administratrix of the estate of Sarah M. Lawrence, for causing her death. Writ dated April 28, 1886. The declaration contained two counts.
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Tort by the administratrix of the estate of Sarah M. Lawrence, for causing her death. Writ dated April 28, 1886. The declaration contained two counts. The first count was as follows : “ The plaintiff says the defendants are a corporation owning and operating a railroad between Boston and Portland, and a common carrier of passengers; that the plaintiff’s intestate, on the sixth day of March last, at Malden, which is a station on said railroad, was a passenger on said railroad; that while such passenger, and in the exercise of the rights of a passenger, she was killed, by reason of the…
1Opinion of the CourtKnowlton, J.
The plaintiff’s intestate had ceased to be a passenger before the accident which caused her death. She had reached her destination, had alighted from the train, had taken a position upon the sidewalk of the highway, and thence had started to cross the track along the street, not upon her way to the defendant’s station, but to some other place which she had in mind.
Was there any evidence at the trial that she was in the exercise of due care ? It is well established law, in this Commonwealth and elsewhere, that one who starts to cross a railroad track without looking for approaching trains,…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Mayo v. Boston & Maine RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1870
- Bancroft v. Boston & Worcester RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1867
- Wheelwright v. Boston & Albany RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1883
- Wright v. Boston & Maine RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
3Cited by13 opinions
- Layne v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co.West Virginia Supreme Court · 1909
- Fletcher v. Fitchburg RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1889
- Tyler v. Old Colony RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1892
- Chase v. Maine Central RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Joyce v. New York, New Haven & Hartford RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1938
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