Hoover v. Reichard

Citations

• 63 Pa. Super. 517
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 203

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Automobiles—Gollision—Case for jury.</p> <p>In an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in a head-on collision between two automobiles, the case is for the jury where the testimony of the plaintiff and his witnesses, although directly contradicted by the defendant and his witnesses, was in effect that the plaintiff was driving his car along the south side of a road, which was the right side, and that defendant approached from the opposite direction on the same side of the road at a high rate of speed, and ran into plaintiff’s machine.</p> <p>The mere fact that a person was running an automobile on the right side of a road does not determine the presence or absence of negligence. The right of a traveler to occupy any part of a road is not absolute and continuously exclusive as to others lawfully upon the highway; he is charged with the duty of exercising ordi-' nary care according to the circumstances.</p> <p>A witness in an automobile accident ease who has testified that he had run automobiles thousands of miles and had been in several races, and had observed several accidents, is not qualified as an expert to answer a question as follows: “what would be the result in reference to the position of the cars if cars approaching each other in the manner as appears in the case were-to come in contact ?”</p> <p>In such a case it is not error for the court to refuse an offer to prove that twelve hours after the accident happened, a witness went to the scene of the accident for the purpose of removing defendant’s car, and found tracks corresponding to the size of those made by plaintiff’s car, and which led across from the south side of the road to the place where defendant’s car was standing. The mere circumstance of a tire on a much-traveled highway making a certain track that may have been the width of the tires of plaintiff’s car, is not sufficient identification to send such evidence to the jury.</p>