Bryant

G. L. Bryant brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by one of the defendant’s electric ears colliding with an automobile in which he was riding. At the time of the accident the plaintiff’s son was driving the machine. A trial was held before a jury which resulted in a verdict for the defendant, but, on motion by the plaintiff, a new trial was granted “solely on the ground that the court erred in instructing the jury that negligence of the driver of the automobile, if any, was to be imputed to the plaintiff.” The defendant appeals from this order.

That the court did so instruct the jury is not questioned. One of the pertinent instructions, for instance, reads: “The actions of the said driver of the said automobile, the son of the plaintiff herein, are in law the actions of the plaintiff in this case. That is to say, if the said driver of said automobile, the son of plaintiff, was guilty of negligence, such negligence is imputable to the said plaintiff, and is a bar to this case, if it contributed directly or proximately to the collision between the said car and the said automobile.” Again: “If you find from the evidence that the…