Bean v. City of Philadelphia

Citations

• 260 Pa. 278
• 103 A. 727
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 505

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Municipalities—Streets—Obvious defects — Vehicles —Driver—Failure to observe — Presumption—Burden of proof— Contributory negligence — Nonsuit.</p> <p>1. When a person is injured in broad daylight by a defect in the highway which is easily observable, a presumption of contributory negligence arises and the burden is upon the plaintiff to shoV conditions outside himself that prevented him from seeing the defect, or which would excuse his failure to observe it.</p> <p>2. In an action by the driver of a wagon against a city to recover for personal injuries sustained in consequence of accidentally driving his wagon into a hole in a public street, a compulsory non-suit was properly entered where it appeared that the accident occurred in broad daylight, and the hole which was twenty-four inches long and six inches wide, was easily observable, and that, although plaintiff testified in a general way that he did not see the hole because his attention was attracted to traffic on the street and pedestrians at the crossing, upon cross-examination he either admitted or stated facts which made it plain that his view of the hole, for seventy-five feet or more, was not intercepted, by traffic or pedestrians, and that he had not looked at the surface of the roadway for at least two minutes before the accident.</p>