Artherholt v. Erie Electric Motor Co.

Citations

• 27 Pa. Super. 141
• 1905 Pa. Super. LEXIS 22

Syllabus

<p>Steam railways — Passengers—Carriers—Attack by conductor on passenger —Damages.</p> <p>The duty of a carrier through its servants to prevent injury to passengers from the acts of third persons which it is practicable for the servants in charge to prevent, includes protection against, the active participation of the servant himself in an unprovoked and wanton assault upon a passenger, committed while he was being transported, and while the servant is engaged in executing the contract of carriage.</p> <p>In an action by a passenger against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries, the case is for the jury where there is testimony from which the jury can find that the conductor, being angered by the plaintiff ringing the signal bell, or by mistake pulling the cord which registered fares, made a wanton and malicious assault upon him, which was neither instigated nor authorized by his employer, but was in violation of the standing rules of the company requiring the conductors to treat passengers civilly. . -</p> <p>Exemplary damages may be recovered by a passenger from a street railway company for injuries caused by a wanton and wilful attack on the passenger by a conductor while the passenger is in the car and the conductor is engaged in the performance of his duty.</p> <p>The fact that a passenger in a street car, who was unable to get the attention of the conductor, negligently pulls the cord which registers fares, instead of the cord which rings the signal bell, is not a defense in an action by the passenger against the company for injuries sustained from a wanton and wilful assault by the conductor. The assault in such a case is not such a natural and probable consequence of the negligence that it might and ought to have been forseen as likely to follow the act, and it cannot therefore be said to have contributed proximately to the injury.</p> <p>In an action by a passenger against a street railway company to recover damages for personal