Rhoads

This is an action for damages for personal injuries alleged to have been received by plaintiff while riding in an automobile as the guest of defendant. The accident occurred on a highway, .running for some distance parallel with a railroad track, the contour of which was familiar to defendant. As the car approached a curve leading to a bridge which was used as an overhead crossing to the opposite side of the track, the steering apparatus of the automobile became unmanageable, causing the machine to leave the highway, run through a fence and land near the bottom of a thirty-foot embankment. Several days prior to the accident some difficulty had been experienced by the defendant in the operation of the steering gear. Plaintiff testified that prior to the accident defendant was driving at a rate of speed of sixty-eight miles an hour and that he called defendant’s attention to the fact and requested him to slow down. Defendant testified: “I didn’t want him to tell me how to drive my car.” A jury returned a verdict for the defendant, and from the judgment entered thereon plaintiff appeals.

The mere failure of the defendant to repair the steering gear before operating the vehicle would…