Case ID: ad2d_9/html/0792-04.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Hermine Reiss et al., Respondents, v. Jacob Klein et al., Appellants.
   In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, and for medical expenses and loss of services, the appeal is from a judgment entered on a jury’s verdict in favor of respondents. Respondent Hermine Reiss, then an infant, was injured while a guest in appellants’ motor vehicle which collided with another motor vehicle in the State of Massachusetts. Judgment affirmed, with costs. Under established decisions of the State of Massachusetts, a guest may recover from his host only upon proof of gross negligence. (Lefeave v. Ascher, 292 Mass. 336; Altman V. Aronson, 231 Mass. 588; Massalettó V. Fitzroy, 228 Mass. 487.) In our opinion, the facts warranted a finding of gross negligence. Nolan, P. J., Beldoek and Hallinan, JJ., concur; Wenzel and Ughetta, JJ., dissent and vote to reverse the judgment and to dismiss the complaint on the ground that a sudden, single, precipitate act does not per se constitute “gross negligence ”, which has been defined as “more than a mere want of due care ” (Desroches v. Holland, 285 Mass. 495, 498).