A common carrier holding himself out to the public as such is bound to receive all passengers whom he is able and accustomed to carry, upon compliance with such reasonable regulations as he may adopt for his own safety and for the benefit of the public.
(Orig. Code 1863, § 2042; Code 1868, § 2043; Code 1873, § 2069; Code 1882, § 2069; Civil Code 1895, § 2278; Civil Code 1910, § 2729; Code 1933, § 18-202.)
Cross references.- Equal protection, U.S. Const., Amend. 14 and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. II.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Duty of carrier to receive and transport ticket purchaser.
- It is legal duty of common carrier to receive and transport person who has purchased ticket over its lines, to the destination called for by the ticket, and should a carrier, in violation of the duty so imposed upon it, illegally expel a passenger from its bus and wrongfully refuse to carry the passenger to the passenger's destination, it would be liable to the passenger for damages proximately resulting therefrom. Daigrepont v. Teche Greyhound Lines, 189 Ga. 601, 7 S.E.2d 174 (1940).
Duty to transport passenger dependent upon presentation of proper ticket.
- While a person who has purchased a ticket for transportation over the lines of a common carrier has the right to use the facilities of the carrier to that end, it is a sine quo non to the exercise of that right that upon boarding the conveyance of the carrier, the passenger deliver to the person in charge thereof the ticket, and where the same is returned to the passenger, to produce it upon demand at reasonable times thereafter during the journey; unless the failure to produce the ticket is due to the fault of the carrier, the passenger may be ejected and further transportation refused in the absence of an offer to pay the passenger's fare. Daigrepont v. Teche Greyhound Lines, 189 Ga. 601, 7 S.E.2d 174 (1940).
Carrier's duty ordinarily discharged when passenger safely deposited.
- Ordinarily carrier of passengers discharges its legal duty when it deposits passenger at a usual and reasonably safe place for alighting and crossing the street, and is under no obligation to wait until approaching automobiles have stopped, or to warn the passengers of the usual dangers of traffic, which in the passenger's exercise of ordinary care would be avoidable. But a carrier is not permitted to deposit a passenger at a place which it knows will reasonably expose the passenger to unusual and unnecessary peril, and it may be held liable for a proximately resulting injury. Locke v. Ford, 54 Ga. App. 322, 187 S.E. 715 (1936).
Action for wrongful refusal to continue to transport.
- To recover for wrongful refusal to continue to transport, it must be alleged and shown that the defendant was responsible for the situation causing such refusal. Daigrepont v. Teche Greyhound Lines, 189 Ga. 601, 7 S.E.2d 174 (1940).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 14 Am. Jur. 2d, Carriers, §§ 815, 817 et seq.
ALR.
- Duty and liability of carrier of passengers for hire by automobile, 31 A.L.R. 1202; 45 A.L.R. 297; 69 A.L.R. 980; 96 A.L.R. 727; 152 A.L.R. 1160.
Loss or theft of passenger's ticket or other token of right to transportation as affecting rights and duties of carrier and passenger, 127 A.L.R. 222.
Validity and construction of statute or ordinance specifically criminalizing passenger misconduct on public transportation, 78 A.L.R.4th 1127.