Minnich v. Wright

Citations

• 214 Pa. 201
• 63 A. 428
• 1906 Pa. LEXIS 625

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Collision between sleigh and car — Contributory negligence.</p> <p>In. an action to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, it appeared that the deceased, following the rule of the road, was driving a sleigh northward on the east track of defendant’s double track railway on a highway. There was snow on the ground, and a sweeper had thrown it on either side of the track. The place of the accident was at the middle of a curve in a highway. In the arc of the circle of this curve opposite the place of the accident there was a schoolhouse in front of which were trees, and around which was a fence. These objects obstructed the view of both the deceased and the motorman. The deceased in looking across the curve could only see the top of a car, and could not determine on which track the car was approaching. The car which struck him approached on the same track on which he was driving, thus proceeding on a track contrary to the usual custom of travel. The motorman testified that he did not see the sleigh until he had turned the curve, and was within sixty or seventy feet of it. This was too late for either party to have avoided the collision. Held, that it was error for the court to rule as a matter of law that the deceased was guilty of contributory negligence.</p>