G.R. No.

L-5691 December 27, 1910

S. D. MARTINEZ and his wife, CARMEN ONG DE MARTINEZ, plaintiffs-appellees,

vs.
WILLIAM VAN BUSKIRK, defendant-appellant

FACTS:

1. On September 11, 1908, Carmen Ong de Martinez was riding in a carromata on Calle Real, Ermita, Manila
when a delivery wagon belonging to William van Buskirk, used for the purpose of transporting fodder, came
along the street in the opposite direction and ran into the carromata overturning it. This injured Martinez,
who suffered a serious cut on her head.
2. Van Buskirk presented evidence that the cochero (driver) of the delivery wagon was a good, safe and
reliable servant, and that at the time of the incident, the driver was unloading the forage when another
vehicle drove by. This frightened the horses and caused them to run away. Consequently, the driver was
thrown from the inside of the wagon out through the rear upon the ground and was unable to stop the
horses.
3. The trial court found the defendant guilty of negligence and gave judgment against him for P442.50, with
interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum from October 17, 1908, as well as the costs of the action. The
case is before the SC on an appeal from that judgment.

ISSUE: Whether or not Van Buskirk can be held liable for negligence

HELD:

1. The duty, a violation of which is claimed to be negligence in the respect in question, is to exercise
reasonable care and prudence.
2. The act of the cochero in leaving the horses in the manner proved was not unreasonable or imprudent. Acts
that have not proved destructive or injurious and which have, therefore, been acquiesced in by society for so
long a time that they have ripened into custom, cannot be held to be themselves unreasonable or imprudent.