Jagger v. People's Street Railway Co.

Citations

• 180 Pa. 436
• 36 A. 867
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 941

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Alighting from cars.</p> <p>It is the duty of a street railway company to stop its cars at suitable places for passengers to leave them, and to keep the cars stationary long enough to enable passengers to alight from them in safety.</p> <p>Street railways — Alighting from moving car — Contributory negligence.</p> <p>It is contributory negligence to leap from a moving car. To justify such action the motion must be so inconsiderable that a person of reasonable prudence exercising ordinary care would not hesitate about the safety of the attempt to alight. If the evidence leaves the question whether the car was fairly in motion in doubt, then the question of contributory negligence must go to the jury. If it does not, it is a question of law.</p> <p>Whether the attempt to leap from an electric ear moving at the rate of from four to five miles per hour is contributory negligence in the passenger may properly be declared by the court on a motion for compulsory nonsuit.</p> <p>In an action by a passenger against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries it appeared that the plaintiff was in the habit of using defendants’ cars, and in order to shorten his walk he would leap from the ears at a point where they did not ordinarily stop. There was evidence that the conductor and motorman knew of this habit, and at a signal from him would slacken the speed of the car down to about four or five miles per hour. The plaintiff was injured while leaping from a car when it had thus slowed down. Held, (1) that the company was not bound by the practice of the plaintiff, or by the good nature of its employees; (2) that a nonsuit was properly entered.</p>