Stoneboro & Chautauqua Lake Ice Co. v. Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co.

Citations

• 238 Pa. 289
• 86 A. 87
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 957

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Liability for negligence — Railroads—Contracts— Public policy — Sidings.</p> <p>1. A duty to the public attaches necessarily whenever a thing operated or exercised is impressed with a public use; and whenever this is the case the duty to the public cannot be made the subject of private contract modifying or in any way controlling its legal consequences.</p> <p>2. A contract between a railroad company and a person owning property adjacent to its tracks, exempting the railroad from liability on account of negligence in the use and operation of a siding constructed wholly upon the railroad’s right of way and subject to its exclusive control, is void as against public policy, irrespective of whether such siding was constructed primarily to accommodate such owner.</p> <p>3. In an action to recover damages to property by reason of a fire alleged to have been occasioned through defendant’s negligence in employing upon the siding a defective engine and operating the engine in a negligent way, it is no defense that the siding was originally constructed and continued to be operated under a contract with the plaintiff exempting the railroad from liability for negligence in its use and operation.</p>