Machen v. Railway Co.

Citations

• 13 Pa. Super. 642
• 1900 Pa. Super. LEXIS 216

Syllabus

<p>Street railway — Alighting passenger — Negligence—Question for jury.</p> <p>It is the duty of persons in charge of a railway car to give persons ladened with bundles a reasonable opportunity to alight. Whether or not this was done in a particular case is a palpable issue of fact which cannot be withheld from the jury as there is no fixed measure of care which can be declared by the court as matter of law.</p> <p>Charge of court — Error in omission — Special request.</p> <p>As a general rule, except in flagrant cases, error cannot be assigned of what was not said by the trial judge; and nothing is better settled than that error cannot be assigned for an omission of a judge to charge in a particular way, unless his attention was called to it by a special request.</p> <p>Pain and suffering has no market value but it is a basis of damage for which recovery may be had by way of an allowance in reasonable amount determinable by the jury.</p> <p>In action by husband and wife for injuries to the wife, the court will not reverse because the court charged as follows: “ The wife is entitled to an allowance for pain and suffering which she has endured by reason of this injury; this is all that she is entitled to.” The two verdicts worked an apportionment of the total amount of damages and together included the expenses, the loss of services and the bodily pain and suffering.</p>