Kiely v. Seattle Electric Co.

Citations

• 78 Wash. 396
• 139 P. 197
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1032

Syllabus

<p>Street Railways — Injuries to Persons on Track — Contributory Negligence — Evidence—Sueeioiency. A street worker engaged in cleaning sewers, struck by a street car, is guilty of contributory negligence, as a matter of law, precluding any recovery, where it appears that the accident occurred in the daytime, the street was clear of obstruction and the approaching car could have been seen for half a mile, that a repeating gong upon the car was sounded for a distance of 75 to 200 feet before the car reached him, but that he paid no attention to its approach and stood on the tracks talking to a co-worker in a manhole, when two or three steps would have taken him out of the zone of danger in an instant even if the car had been going at an excessive speed.</p> <p>Same — Injury to Persons on Track — Negligence—Last Clear Chance. In such a case, the doctrine of last clear chance does not apply, especially where there was evidence that on the approach of the car, the plaintiff raised from a stooping position, as if about to move from the track; since the motorman had a right to assume that he would step aside, and his contributory negligence was concurrent and continued until the moment of the injury.</p> <p>Fullerton, J., dissents.</p>