Tan Top Cab Company v. Daniel J. Shiller

QUINN, Associate Judge. Appellee, plaintiff in the trial court, late one evening parked his automobile facing east on an incline
on Harvard Street near Adams Mill Road. The following morning he returned and found a Tan Top taxicab had collided with his
car. The taxicab was facing in a southwesterly direction, downhill, with its hood up and its engine running. Beach, the driver
of the taxicab, was present and told plaintiff that his taxicab had been parked as the second car in front of plaintiff's
car; that earlier that morning he tried to start the engine but could not because the battery was dead; and that he then left
the taxicab unattended and returned later with a mechanic, 1 at which time he discovered the cars were in collision. Beach testified that because of battery trouble the evening before he parked his taxicab with the wheels parallel to the
curb, set the hand brake, put the taxicab in low gear, and locked the ignition and the doors. The following morning he returned
and made an unsuccessful attempt to start the taxicab. He further testified that he then went to obtain a mechanic, leaving
the taxicab in the same condition as it was the night before with the exception of locking the door. When they returned he
found his taxicab in collision with plaintiff's car, the front end facing in approximately a two-hundred degree turn to the
left from its former position. He inspected his taxicab and found that the hand brake was completely off and that it was out
of gear. He also testified that the mechanic raised the hood, started the engine, and then departed.