Millikin v. Richhill Township

Citations

• 67 Pa. Super. 326
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 397

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Townships—Road without guard — Automobiles — ■ Contributory negligence.</p> <p>The duty of a township as to a road must be measured by the ordinary and usual demands of the traveling public in the locality, and supervisors are bound to foresee and provide for the ordinary method of travel and make reasonable provision for the safety of the public; and this applies to automobiles as well as to ordinary vehicles.</p> <p>Where a practicing physician drives in his automobile to a patient’s house some miles distant from his own, over a road dry and in good condition, and during the hour he is at the patient’s house, a sudden and severe rainfall takes place, and the road is rendered slippery, and on his return he applies chains to his car and exercises good judgment and care in the operation of his ear at a point where the road was on an unguarded slope, he cannot be charged with contributory negligence, if the car goes over the embankment, because he attempted to use the road in its wet condition. A traveler is not obliged to stay off a public road merely because it happens to be slippery.</p>