Frankel v. Norris

Citations

• 252 Pa. 14
• 97 A. 104
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 561

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Automobiles—Street cars — Alighting passengers— Act of April 27, 1909, P. L. 265, Sec. H — Contributory negligence —Case for jury.</p> <p>1. The proximate cause of an event is that which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any new, independent cause, produces that event, and without which that event would not have occurred; if a wrong-doer has put into operation a force likely to injure others he is liable for its natural and proximate effects which may be immediate and direct or through the media of natural forces, or other innocent causes or conditions.</p> <p>2. In an action against the operator of an automobile to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that an open or summer street car approached a street crossing and stopped to discharge passengers, that plaintiff and another passenger alighted from the running board and started toward the sidewalk when defendant’s automobile approached from the rear of the car and without stopping until all the passengers had reached the side of the road, as required by the Act of April 27, 1909, P. L. 265, Sec. 14, struck plaintiff’s fellow passenger, who had alighted after the plaintiff, and threw him against the plaintiff, whereby the injuries complained of were occasioned. Defendant contended that the street car stopped beyond its regular stopping place and that he had no intention of passing the car if it stopped, and that plaintiff’s fellow passenger was negligent in alighting in front of the approaching automobile and that his negligence was the proximate cause of the accident. Held, the case was for the jury and a verdict for the plaintiff was sustained.</p>