Robson v. Lehigh Valley Railroad

Citations

• 236 Pa. 89
• 84 A. 585
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 718

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Railroads — Braheman—Overhead bridge — Master and servant — Assumption of rislc — Case for jury.</p> <p>1. Where on an issue of assumption of risk by a servant who has sustained injuries, the facts are controverted or such that different inferences may be drawn therefrom, the question as to the assumption of risk should be submitted to the jury under proper instructions from the court.</p> <p>2. In an action against a railroad company to recover damages for the death of a brakeman who was killed by his head coming in contact with an overhead bridge while he was riding at night on the top of a freight car on a side track, the question of the assumption of risk by the deceased is for the jury, where it appears that the deceased was an extra brakeman; that the side track was not guarded by dangling ropes near the bridge, as were the main tracks; that the testimony of the defendant’s employees to the effect that the deceased knew of the bridge, was contradicted; that there was testimony that the deceased had never been under the bridge before; and the proof shows that the space between the top of the car and the span of the bridge was only slightly less than the height of an ordinary man, so that it was difficult to determine under the circumstances whether it was safe to stand erect on the top of the car in passing under the bridge.</p>