Dever v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 66 Pa. Super. 515
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 308

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railways—Shifting of cars — Evidence—Case for jury.</p> <p>A verdict and judgment for plaintiff against a railroad company will be sustained, where the evidence for the plaintiff tends to show that the plaintiff, who was in the employ of another person than the defendant, was engaged at night in pushing a freight car upon a pier of a storage company; that while so doing he was struck by another ear which had been backed on the pier; that it was the custom of the defendant company when cars were being backed on the pier to send a brakeman ahead, and to display a light from a lantern when a car was moved at night; that at the time of the accident this custom had not been observed; and that the locomotive and car which caused the injury were operated by the defendant company, and not by another company which also used the pier.</p> <p>Where a plaintiff in an accident case avers in his statement of claim that the injury was caused in a particular manner, he must prove this averment at the trial. Such proof may be by direct or circumstantial evidence, but when the latter evidence is relied on the inference therefrom must be such as will reasonably exclude all other theories but that the accident occurred from the cause set up in the statement.</p>