Quinn v. Philadelphia

Citations

• 224 Pa. 176
• 73 A. 318
• 1909 Pa. LEXIS 750

Syllabus

<p>Municipalities — Sidewalk—Open areaway — Uncovered areaway— Proximate and remote cause.</p> <p>1. Where a small boy running upon a sidewalk in a city trips over the projecting hinge of a cellar door, and falls into an open areaway and from that into the cellar, and is injured, the city is not responsible for his injuries because it permitted the areaway to remain uncovered. In such a case, the proximate cause of the injury was the obstruction in the sidewalk consisting of the projecting hinge of the door as to which obstruction the city was not charged with negligence.</p> <p>2. Damages are not properly chargeable to any alleged act of negligence, when it appears that subsequently an independent and unexpected factor intervened which in itself was the real cause of the mischief. Legal responsibility in such a case rests .upon the intervening cause, and unless that was the fault of the original wrongdoer the latter is relieved from responsibility.</p>