CASE DIGEST (Transportation Law): Necesito vs. Paras

PRECILLANO NECESITO, ETC. vs. NATIVIDAD PARAS, ET AL.

G.R. No. L-10605, June 30, 1958)

FACTS:

A mother and her son boarded a passenger auto-truck of the Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines. While entering a wooden bridge, its front wheels swerved to the right, the driver lost control and the truck fell into a breast-deep creek. The mother drowned and the son sustained injuries. These cases involve actions ex contractu against the owners of PRBL filed by the son and the heirs of the mother. Lower Court dismissed the actions, holding that the accident was a fortuitous event.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the carrier is liable for the manufacturing defect of the steering knuckle, and whether the evidence discloses that in regard thereto the carrier exercised the diligence required by law (Art. 1755, new Civil Code)

HELD:

Yes.

While the carrier is not an insurer of the safety of the passengers, the manufacturer of the defective appliance is considered in law the agent of the carrier, and the good repute of the manufacturer will not relieve the carrier from liability. The rationale of the carrier’s liability is the fact that the passengers has no privity with the manufacturer of the defective equipment; hence, he has no remedy against him, while the carrier has. We find that the defect could be detected. The periodical, usual inspection of the steering knuckle did not measure up to the “utmost diligence of a very cautious person” as “far as human care and foresight can provide” and therefore the knuckle’s failure cannot be considered a fortuitous event that exempts the carrier from responsibility.