Gant v. . Gant

BbogdeN, J.

Tbe facts are brief and simple. Tbe ground was covered witb a heavy snow, and therefore soft and slick. The defendant was not endeavoring to operate the automobile under dangerous conditions, but merely to get his own automobile out of a garage on his own premises. It was suggested upon the oral argument that the defendant should have placed chains; upon the automobile before attempting to get it out of the garage, or to have given notice to his wife, the plaintiff, that the wheels were likely to spin. It was also suggested that the defendant was racing the motor. It does not appear that racing the motor caused the wheels to spin. Ostensibly the spinning resulted from contact with a soft, slick surface. These suggestions all lie in the field of speculation. Under the circumstances disclosed by the record the liability of defendant depended upon whether, by the exercise of ordinary care and prudence, he could have reasonably foreseen that some injury would result from attempting to get the automobile out of the garage. The principle of law is thus expressed in Fore v. Geary, 191 N. C., 90, 131 S. E., 387: “No man, by the exercise of reasonable care, however high and rigid the standard of such care, upon the facts in any particular case, can foresee or forestall the inevitable accidents, and contingencies which happen and occur daily, some bringing sorrow and loss, and some bringing joy and profit, all however contributing, in part, to make up the sum total of human life. The law holds men liable only for the consequences of their acts, which they can and should foresee and by reasonable care and prudence, provide for.” ,

The plaintiff testified that the first plank used by the defendant “seemed to help some.” Thereupon the defendant directed a servant to place two longer planks between the front and rear wheels. The automobile moved over these planks and as it rolled off upon the slick surface the wheel suddenly began to spin, thus kicking one of the planks backward and inflicting the unfortunate injury upon the plaintiff.

In our opinion the evidence does not disclose any negligence upon the part of the defendant. Under the circumstances of the case to require the defendant to foresee that the plank would be kicked backward and injure his wife would practically stretch foresight into omniscience. The law does not require omniscience. The motion 'for nonsuit should have been allowed.

Error.