Cage v. Township of Franklin

Citations

• 11 Pa. Super. 533
• 1899 Pa. Super. LEXIS 165

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Defective highway — Liability of township.</p> <p>A township is responsible for such consequence of the fault of its officers in the care of its highways as are natural and probable, and might therefore be foreseen by ordinary foresight, but if their fault happen to concur with something extraordinary, and therefore not likely to be fore.seen, the township will not be answerable for the extraordinary result.</p> <p>Defective highway — -Fright of horse — Proximate cause.</p> <p>Horses are likely to become frightened and in their sudden fright plunge over an unguarded precipice, or rush upon some danger within the highway for the existence of which the authorities are responsible. In such cases the consequence of the neglect of duty are natural and probable, and onght therefore to be foreseen. But when from extraordinary cause, for the existence of which the supervisors are not responsible and of which they cannot be presumed to have had notice, a driver loses control óf his horses and they come in contact with a defect in the highway, there is no more reason for holding the township answerable for a resultant injury than there is for holding any other party responsible for the concurrence of something which he could not foresee with his negligence.</p> <p>Proximate cause — Ordinary or extraordinary causes.</p> <p>In the application of legal principles to the facts of particular cases, different results have been reached as to the proximate causes of the injuries under investigation, not so much because of-difference or fluctuation of judicial opinion as to the general doctrine, but because the action, the condition or the cause concurring with the neglect to provide proper barriers, or to keep the highway in proper repair, has in some cases been deemed ordinary and in some cases extraordinary.</p> <p>It cannot be said to be an inflexible rule of law in Pennsylvania, that* if by reason of fright, irrespective of the cause of it, a horse becomes uncontr