Dougherty v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.

Citations

• 257 Pa. 118
• 101 A. 344
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 690

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Pedestrians—Fall of trolley pole— Circumstantial evidence — Expert witnesses — Competency — Scope of examination — Proximate cause — Amendments—New cause of action — Statute of limitations — Practice, C. P.</p> <p>1. While the rule of many jurisdictions that where a thing is shown to be under the management of the defendant and his servants, and an accident occurring in respect thereto is such as in the ordinary course of things does not happen if those who have the management use proper care, it offers reasonable evidence, in the absence of explanation by the defendant, that the accident arose from want of care, has not been applied in this State to cases such as ■ the present one, nevertheless under such circumstances the quantum of proof necessary to establish negligence need be very slight and may be merely circumstantial if sufficiently strong to carry conviction to a reasonable mind.</p> <p>2. Where, in an action against a street railway company to recover for personal injuries sustained in consequence of the fall of a trolley pole upon a pedestrian, there was uneontradicted evidence that the pole and equipment was in good condition after the accident, the trial judge did not err in refusing to permit a witness who had worked for a considerable number of years for defendant and had left its services five years before the accident, since which time he had no experience with trolley cars, to state whether ,as a result of his experience a trolley wheel could leave the wire if the pole were properly adjusted, in the absence of an offer to prove that the trolley equipment was the same at the time of the accident as when the witness acquired his alleged special knowledge; and especially where it appeared that the actual condition of the trolley equipment was susceptible of direct proof. Had the preliminary inquiry developed testimony from which the jury might have reached the conclusion that the pole had not been properly adjusted,