Curtis v. De Coursey

Citations

• 176 Pa. 446
• 35 A. 183
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 1097

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Railroad yard.</p> <p>In an action to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, it appeared that the deceased was a teamster and that he was killed while driving a wagon in the yard of defendant, a railroad company. The yard was inclosed on two sides by board fences, was bounded on the third by the railroad track and on the fourth by a public street. The plank foot-walk at the side of the street was two feet higher than the surface of the yard, except at one end, where, in order to make a passage way for wagons, the walk had for a short distance been lowered to the grade of the yard. This was the only way provided by which freight could be hauled to and from the cars. The deceased at the time of the accident was engaged in removing machinery from cars standing in the yard. The accident was caused by a defect at the inner edge of the walk at the point where it. was lowered to the grade of the yard, and was wholly on the defendant’s ground. The court charged that no high degree of care was necessary in the maintenance of the defendant’s freight yard and the approach thereto; that the duty in that regard was to be determined by the use to which it was put and the nature of the business conducted there, and that the defendant was not liable unless the condition was so dangerous that an accident such as that which caused the death of the plaintiff’s husband would by the exercise of ordinary care and prudence have been foreseen and guarded against. Held, that the charge was proper, and that a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff should be sustained.</p>