The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07
TROLLEY DAMAGE CASES.
EHR ORDEAL WHICH THE COMPANY
OFFICIALS HAVE TO FACE

IL IL Met-The London and Paris Omni-
bus Companies Have an Easy Time Conn
pared with tho Street Car Companies
Here - Stories of Attempted Fraud.
"The London General Omnibus Company.
operating o20 buses. has 100 accident reports
n day. settles only 80 per cent. OF the claims
made against II, and yet Ia called upon to de-
fend only about forty lawsuits In the course OF a
year. Its total expenses for claims and ltlga-
ton. including payment OF Its lawyers, are only
about $4,000 a year"
30 said the claim agent OF an American
trolley company recently home from abroad.
"That Ia what the Secretary OF the London
company told me" he continued,
my company. operating about 800 trolley
ears in Greater New York. has an average Of
thSrty-flve accident reports q day. with 200
lawsuits a year. and a total expenditure for
claims. litigations, and legal services Of moro
than 100000. Between London and New York
O vast difference OF methods and conditions waa
found. The Secretary Of the London company
is himself the claim agent. His office is a very
quiet. old-fashioned place In a quiet, old-fash-
toned street. II opens late and closes early,
and he only has two assistants.
THE secret Of this case Is TO some extent
explained by the fact that every claim for less
than E10 $500 lie settled by the employees Of
the company. These London omnibus en-
ployees are high-class men. They are q sturdy.
sober. intelligent lot. who are paid eight shill-
ings and sixpence a day each. for a full days
work as driver or conductor. and who subscribe
TO q pension fund. and also to a district accident
fund. They are well clothed and we'll treated.
are men OF more or less education, some OF
them men Of high families, broken down gem
tlemen. and all respectable and civil. They are
looked up to with envy by the mechanics.
"Th District Accident Fund amounts to a
penny a day for each man, and this settles all
the minor claims, and they are the vast ma
jority. as II seldom occurs that a claim for over
400 Is made in London. The men also do the
Investigating OF all claims under E10.
For the purpose Of settling accident claims
all London is districted by the omnibus COM
pany. and when the minor claims come to the
Secretary he makes notes OF them and passes
them riRhtialong to the mems association OF
the districts in which the accidents occurred.
Each district association OF the omnibus men
has a Secretary who attends to the claims. He
calls upon the claimants. investigates cause
and damage. and disposes OF the cases by pay
ment or refusal to pay on the ground that the
omnibus was not at fault.
This brings the men face to face with the
consequences of their own carelessness and re-
duoes It to q minimum. l think the system
could be introduced here with the very best
results. The Secretary OF the London company
informed me that in all London there are only
five lawyers who take cases against corpora
lions on speculation. This is largely accounted
for by tho difference in the attitude OF news
papers. the bar. Judges and juries. which all
seem to regard with suspicion a man or woman
who makes a claim against a public carrying
corporation. Physicians who swear TO mag
mary injuries of the nervous system are also
hard to find in London.
Il thought that the English claim agent had
o good easy time of it. but when I got to Paris 1
found the carrying corporations there rolling in
even deeper clover. | was informed that a
pedestrian knocked down on Paris streets by q
public conveyance was arrested and tried for
obstructinR public travel and punished for It II
he could not prove his innocence. The burden
Of proof is thrown on him and he ia frequently
locked up for weeks before being brought to
trial. During that time he is frequently not
allowed to see counsel or his friends. and there
fore has no means of getting witnesses. even II
he knows the names of any. All this l get from
our Vice Consul in Paris.
In New York everything is against the cor
poration. My company operates about the
same number OF trolley cars as the London
company operates buses. We carry more pas
sengers. have only one-third as many acct
dents. but pay more than four times as much
for settlements. verdicts. and legal services.
This Is partly accounted for by the settlements
made by the London men. but altogether they
don't spend $4,000 a year on settlements.
Taken as a whole. damage claims and their
settlement cost the London company and its
men $4,000 and us 100000 a year. The
difference of $125. 900 Is accounted for by the
attitude OF bar. courts, newspapers. Judges,
and litigants here.
Damage lawyers. who not only take cases on
speculation. but have runners out looking for
such cases, are very numerous in Greater New
York. Some OF the best-known firms In the
city do this very thing. In Brooklyn matters
are worse than in New York. When the trolley
there knocks a man down he is bounced upon
by half a dozen agents Of rival law firms. II he
is taken home his bed Is Uttered with circulars
and cards from these lawyers runners. Each
tries his best to see him and get him to sign an
agreement making his particular firm the lam
aged mans attorney for suit or settlement with
the company. II the runner catches the dam
aged man a member Of the firm visits him and
clinches the agreement. The lawyer charges
anywhere from 20 to 80 per cent. Of the amount
recovered. Sometimes he even advances money
to the claimant.
There are many frauds, and some lawyers
and physicians are in them up to the neck. Per-
haps you don't know that there are trolley
age case lawyers In Greater New York. have
several who come to me with many cases in the
course OF a year. These doctors catch up in
ipred men In their carriages, and often take
them TO their own houses. They then come
ment Of their atte9dgncsSte Where the in
are at fault or which ID at best, doubtful, we
pay the aoctor'a fees so long as they are reason
able. We also. by means of the doctor, effect
an economical settlement with the damaged
These doctors work the thing both ways,
Tor when they pick the man or woman up they
say to him or her, As you are my patient l look
uponte 90 my duty to warn you that the dam
age wyNrsw who seek you out and try to get
who viii keep you waiting for years and will
then Robble up more than half OF anything that
they recover. Now, the President OF that com
pany is a personal friend OF mine and l will at
tend 70 your case myself and do better for you
than the lawyers
"Where there Is merit in the case l send to
That ~ reiusses sS0fH e i IS iR MORN sn thai Hnet tb 30 cd I0w
pany won't, give any more. Then my man
leaves and tho doctor comes on the scene.
How much did they offerf',
One hundred dollars. told them to 60 to