Druse v. Pacific Power & Light Co.

Citations

• 86 Wash. 519
• 150 P. 1182
• 1915 Wash. LEXIS 1217

Syllabus

<p>Appeal — Review—Harmless Error. Error in giving or refusing instructions is harmless, where recovery cannot be had in any event.</p> <p>Electricity — Personal Injury — Contributory Negligence — Evidence — Sufficiency. A farmer, moving a hay derrick underneath high power electric wires, was guilty of contributory negligence, precluding any recovery for his death, where he drove the derrick against telephone wires with such force as to draw the poles together and cause high power lines above to sag and come in contact with the derrick, it being evident that the clear way might not be sufficient, and from past experience he was aware of the danger of contact, and where, after the contact was established and obvious, instead of having the current cut off, he approached, over the protest and warning of others, to within a foot of a charged cable, and within two or three feet of a log chain which was spitting fire, and received a shock of electricity through a hemp rope which he had attached to the charged derrick in an attempt to lower it.</p>