Case Digest (G.R. No. 34840)
Facts:
Narciso Gutierrez v. Bonifacio Gutierrez, et al., G.R. No. 34840, September 23, 1931, the Supreme Court En Banc, Malcolm, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff-appellee, Narciso Gutierrez, was a passenger on a passenger truck (autobus) traveling from San Pablo, Laguna, to Manila when, on February 2, 1930, that vehicle collided on the Talon bridge on the Manila South Road in Las Piñas with a privately owned automobile. The collision produced a fractured right leg for Narciso that required lengthy medical care and left the leg imperfectly healed at trial.The defendants-appellants comprised two groups: (1) Bonifacio Gutierrez (the automobile driver, aged 18), Maria V. de Gutierrez (the driver’s mother and a passenger in the automobile), and Manuel Gutierrez (the driver’s father and owner of the automobile); and (2) Abelardo Velasco (the chauffeur of the truck) and Saturnino Cortez (owner of the truck). At the time of the collision the father was not in the automobile; several family members including the mother were passengers.
At the Court of First Instance of Manila the plaintiff sued the five defendants for P10,000 in damages for bodily injuries; judgment was rendered for the plaintiff as prayed for. Both sets of defendants appealed. The trial court found that negligence caused the collision and made subsidiary findings about the relative conduct and speed of the respective drivers. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the principal factual disputes (including the drivers’ speeds and positions on the bridge) were reviewed and the Court accepted the trial judge’s findings as sufficiently supported by the record. The parties invoked civil liability rules for negligence and, by pleadings and evidence, the truck owner and chauffeur’s contractual/employment relationship was asserted.
Both appellant groups appeale...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is Manuel Gutierrez, as father and guarantor of his son Bonifacio, civilly liable for damages caused by the son’s negligent driving?
- Are Saturnino Cortez (truck owner) and Abelardo Velasco (truck chauffeur) liable to the plaintiff for the injuries the plaintiff suffered in the collision?
- Was the defense of contributory negligence (the plaintiff’s alleged conduct of keeping his foot outside the truck) available and sufficient to reduce or bar recovery?
- Was the trial court’s award of P10...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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