Snyder v. Penn Township

Citations

• 14 Pa. Super. 145
• 1900 Pa. Super. LEXIS 28

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Township road occupied by railroad — Liability of municipal authorities.</p> <p>When a township road has been taken and occupied by a railroad company for its own purposes under legal authority, pending the relocation of the road by the railroad, the township authorities are not required to keep the road in a safe condition for travel; if the road becomes unsafe and the municipal authorities desire to repudiate its use as a public highway it becomes their duty to erect such barriers as will give notice of that fact. If the road were left open in a dangerous condition and a stranger or traveler, ignorant of the danger, because of that neglect, is led into a trap and suffers an injury, the township will be liable.</p> <p>Dangerous road in process of reconstruction — Duties of traveler and township.</p> <p>Notwithstanding the duty of municipal authorities to barricade a road rendered unsafe for travel pending relocation by a railroad in order that persons may be prevented from unwittingly passing into a dangerous position, it is the duty of travelers who know the condition of the road to take all reasonable precautions to avoid injury.</p> <p>Township road — Contributory negligence of traveler.</p> <p>A.person, raised on a farm and used to horses who saw and who must be presumed to have understood a peril necessarily to be encountered in driving with a timid horse on a narrow and obstructed road adjoining a railroad, who knew the road was in process of reconstruction and that as a consequence it was in a condition that required the exercise of greater care upon the part of those who attempted to pass over it, who seeing and understanding her peril voluntarily encountered a known danger is guilty of contributory negligence and may not charge the consequence of her rashness upon the township.</p>