Gould v. Atlantic City Railroad

Citations

• 68 Pa. Super. 431
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 143

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads—Passenger—Weight of testimony — Number of luitnesses.</p> <p>In an action by a passenger against a railroad company to recover damages for personal injuries, the case is for the jury, and a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained, where the testimony of the plaintiff and another passenger shows that the injury was sustained at a junction point where cars were coupled, according to the account of the two witnesses, with “unusual” and “extraordinary” and “terrific” force, and without warning, throwing the plaintiff forward in his seat with such violence as to result in hernia, although twelve witnesses, employees of the defendant and passengers, testified in substance that the coupling was effected without disturbing any other persons in the cars, and without unusual violence. In such a case the defendant cannot complain of the trial judge’s action in submitting the case to the jury, if it appears that he did not minimize the effect of the numerical preponderance of the witnesses for the defendant, and the legitimate advantage to which the defendant was entitled by reason of this marked numerical preponderance of witnesses. Fomwalt v. Philadelphia R. T. Co., 65 Pa. Superior Ct. 559, distinguished.</p>