Knowlan v. Shipley-Massingham Co.

Citations

• 266 Pa. 117
• 109 A. 629
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 516

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Infant—Motor truck — Contributory negligence of parent — Sudden peril — Case for jury.</p> <p>1. In a negligence ease against the owner of a motor truck to recover damages for injuries to a child five years old run down by the truck, the mother of a child cannot be charged with contributory negligence as a matter of law, where the evidence shows that the mother leading the child by the hand started to cross a street at an established crossing on a night that was dark and smoky; that on the street there was a single car track upon which the ears traveled westerly; that, as the mother walked from the curb, she looked in the direction from which the cars came; that when almost at the first rail, the truck traveling easterly, at a high rate of speed, without giving any signal, bore down upon her; and- that in the resulting confusion the child escaped from her and was run down by the truck.</p> <p>2. In this case, the mother, confronted with sudden peril, through no fault of her own, was not held to the exercise of the best judgement to protect her child.</p>