306 



NEGLIGENCE IN THE USE OF HORSES, ETC. 



Passenger 

 thrown from 

 an Omnibus. 



Horse and 

 Cart left 

 standing' in 

 the street. 



plaintiff lias coutributecl to the accident by her own 

 neglect, slie cannot recover in this action. I will pnt 

 this case. If a person in Oxford Street sees an Omnibus 

 coming, however furiously, and he will be headstrong 

 enough to try to cross the street, and is run over, he 

 cannot recover in an action against the proprietors of the 

 Omnibus, as no one has a right of action if he meets 

 with an accident which by ordinary care he might have 

 avoided. The Cabriolet, it is said, was coming at the 

 rate of nine or ten- miles an hour, which was a most im- 

 proper pace at such an hour and in such a place. Even 

 a much less pace would be too fast at that time of the 

 evening in such a place as High Street, Aldgate. If 

 the plaintiff took reasonable and proper care, and it was 

 on account of the extraordinary speed of the Cabriolet 

 that s]ie could not save herself, and thus met with the 

 accident, she is entitled to your verdict ; but if she, by 

 her own negligence and want of care, contributed to the 

 accident, she cannot recover in this action, even though 

 you should think the driver of the Cabriolet was driving 

 too fast, and was therefore guilty of negligence as well as 

 the plaintiff. If, however, the plaintiff took reasonable 

 and proper care, and it was the negligence of the driver 

 which caused the accident, you ought to find a verdict for 



the plaintiff "C/)- 



So, also, where it appeared that the plaintiff was a 

 passenger on the top of an Omnibus, which was struck 

 by the defendant's Omnibus, and the consequence was 

 that the Omnibus on which the plaintiff sat, continuing 

 its course, ran against some obstacle, and the plaintiff 

 was thrown off with considerable violence, it was held 

 by the Court of Exchequer that the defendant was 

 liable (r). 



If a Horse and Cart are left standing in the street, 

 without any person to watch them, the owner is liable for 

 any damage done by them, though it be occasioned by 

 the act of a passer-by, in striking the Horse. Thus, where 

 damage had been done under such circumstances. Chief 

 Justice Tindal said, "If a man chooses to leave a Cart 

 standing in the street, he must take the risk of any mischief 

 that may be done" (s). And in like manner a master is 

 liable if his Cart be so left by his servant {t) . 



{q) Woolfx. Beard, 8 C. & P. 373. 

 {)■) Righy v. Heivitt, 5 Ex. 242. 

 \d) llUdfje V. Goodwin, 5 C. & P. 



193. 



[t) Lynch V. Nurdin, 1 Q. B. 33. 

 See also Lt/go v. Ncu-hoU, 9 Ex. 302. 



