Smathers v. Pittsburg & Butler Street Railway Co.

Citations

• 226 Pa. 212
• 75 A. 190
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 739

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Collision between car and wagon — Duty to “ stop, look and listen ” — Crossing.</p> <p>1. It is the absolute duty of a traveler or the driver of a team at the intersection of two city streets upon which is laid a line of street railway to look immediately before going upon the tracks, and failure to do so is negligence per se. If when he looks he sees an approaching car so near as to make an attempt to cross dangerous, it is his duty to stop; or, if when he looks at the edge of the tracks his view is obstructed so that he cannot see it then becomes his duty to listen, and under some circumstances it may be his duty to stop as if when he looks and listens he still is in doubt about the location and movement of the car. If in any of these situations he fails in the performance of the duty required he is guilty of contributory negligence and cannot recover.</p> <p>2. In such a case no question can arise as to the proper place to look or whether there is a better place as in steam railroad grade crossing cases, because the settled rule is that the place to look is immediately before going upon the tracks. What the driver of a team is required to do after looking depends upon what he sees when he looks. Whether he failed to perform his duty under the circumstances is sometimes a question of law for the court and sometimes of fact for the jury. If when he looks he sees a car so near as to make the attempt to cross dangerous and notwithstanding he attempts the crossing and a collision results he is so clearly guilty of contributory negligence that the court should say so as a matter of law. He can take no close chance except at his peril. If, however, when he looks he sees a car so far distant that in the exercise of ordinary prudent judgment he is justified in concluding that he can safely make the crossing and attempts to do so, it is for the jury to determine whether under the circumstances he should have stopped before attempting to dr