Conflict of Laws. Negligence, Motor Vehicle.
The question, whether the operator of a motor vehicle is liable to a guest of his who is injured while in the motor vehicle in another State because of his operation thereof, is to be determined according to the law of that State, although such law holds the operator to a more strict accountability than does the law of this Commonwealth; and, at the trial in a court of this Commonwealth of an action of tort for such personal injuries, the question, what was the law of such State applicable in the circumstances, is one of fact to be determined on all the evidence introduced on the subject at the trial.
BY THE COURT.
This is an action of tort for personal injuries suffered by the plaintiff while riding as a guest of the defendant in his automobile driven by him. The accident occurred in New Hampshire. The uncontradicted evidence was that according to the law of New Hampshire a guest in an automobile may recover compensation for injury resulting from the ordinary negligence of his host; and that under such circumstances recovery is not confined, as in this Commonwealth, to cases of gross negligence of the host. Massaletti v. Fitzroy, 228 Mass. 487. There was no exception to instructions to the jury to this effect. The rights of the parties are governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the injury occurred. Plainly it was a question of fact on all the evidence whether the defendant's negligent operation of his automobile harmed the plaintiff while she was in the exercise of due care. It would serve no useful purpose to narrate the evidence.
Exception overruled.