Hager v. Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co.

Citations

• 261 Pa. 359
• 104 A. 599
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 747

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads — Contributory negligence — Passenger alighting from train — Duties of brakeman — Proximate cause— Court and, jury.</p> <p>1. It is the duty of a common carrier of passengers to exercise the highest practical degree of care and to afford them a safe means of ingress and egress to and from the car or other vehicle of transportation.</p> <p>2. A railroad company is liable for the negligent acts of employees while assisting passengers to and from its cars.</p> <p>3. In an action of trespass by a husband and wife to recover for personal injuries to the wife, it appeared that plaintiffs took passage on one of defendant’s excursion trains to go to a certain park with a large party for an annual picnic. Where the trains stopped at the park there was a gravel or cinder walk used as a platform, which was at least three feet below the bottom step of passenger cars; making’ a step or jump-down of that distance in alighting. The evidence for plaintiffs was to the effect that the train was filled with passengers and as it stopped the brakeman at the rear of the car in which they were riding called “This way out”; and that the husband was the first passenger to go out the rear door and off the car; and that he, seeing a brakeman there to assist the ladies, went in search of a table and benches for the picnic dinner; that the wife coming out after several other passengers, walked down the car steps and saw a brakeman standing on the walk, who with his left hand was assisting lady passengers from said ear down to the walk and with his right hand was performing a like service for ladies alighting from the next car; that, as he took her left hand, she released her hold from the hand rail, and, just as her foot was leaving the bottom step, when she was committed to the act of alighting, he suddenly and without warning jerked his hand away, causing her to fall to the ground and strike her knee upon the rail of an adjoining track, inflicting the injuries compla