Goe v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.

Citations

• 30 Wash. 654
• 71 P. 182
• 1903 Wash. LEXIS 361

Syllabus

<p>NEGLIGENCE-ACCIDENTAL INJURY-PROXIMATE CAUSE.</p> <p>Where the primary cause of an injury is a pure accident, occasioned without fault of the injured party, and which would not have resulted in the injury éxcepting for a negligent act of the defendant, such negligence is the proximate cause of the injury, for which damages are recoverable.</p> <p>SAME-INJURY TO SERVANT-SAFE PLACE TO WORK-QUESTION FOR JURY.</p> <p>Where a common laborer, employed in a gravel pit in connection with the work of a steam shovel, ignorant of the mechanical structure of the boom and crane attached to the shovel, is ordered hy the foreman to go out upon the boom to assist in righting things after the overturning of the shovel, without being warned of the dangers of the position, and, by reason of the slippery condition of the boom, falls and strikes the lever of the crane engine; thereby starting the machinery in motion, and in throwing out one hand to recover himself has it caught and ground in a cog wheel, the danger of the sudden starting of the crane engine being capable of avoidance by having the steam shut off completely by a valve for that purpose between the crane engine and the main engine of the shovel, a question of fact as to defendant’s negligence is presented for the consideration of the jury, and it is for them to determine, from such a state of facts, the proximate cause of the injury. (Andebs, J., dissents.)</p>