Douglass v. Monongahela City Water Co.

Citations

• 172 Pa. 435
• 34 A. 50
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 795

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Contributory negligence — Accident in street — Choice of ways.</p> <p>Where a person has a choice of ways it is not negligence for him to choose one way whose dangerous condition he does not know, although he has knowledge by actual previous travel that the other way is safe.</p> <p>Negligence — Water company — Contributory negligence — Excavation in •streets — Running on cartway — Running to afire.</p> <p>A water company made an excavation in the cartway of a street to repair a water pipe. The repair was completed on the same day, but the excavation was not filled up.. The excavation was guarded by barrels, and planks placed on the top of the barrels, and extending to a dirt pile. On the evening of the second day after the excavation had been made, plaintiff in running to a fire struck one of the planks, which gave way, and plaintiff was precipitated into the excavation, suffering serious personal injuries. The nearest light to the excavation was a street lamp about sixty-one yards distant. The pavement opposite the excavation was being repaired, and was in bad condition, and this was known to plaintiff. Held, that the question oí defendant’s negligence and plaintiff’s contributory negligence was for the jury.</p>