Trout v. Waynesburg, Greencastle & Mercersburg Turnpike Road

Citations

• 216 Pa. 119
• 64 A. 900
• 1906 Pa. LEXIS 573

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Turnpike road — Proximate cause — Evidence.</p> <p>In an action against a turnpike road company to recover damages for personal injuries it appeared that the plaintiff and another man were driving along a stretch of the defendant's road, on one side of which was a precipice which was not protected by a guard rail. On the opposite side was constructed a chute at right angles with the road. This chute was used in carrying wood down the mountain. As the buggy was opposite the chute a piece or several pieces of cordwood came down the chute with a loud noise. One of these pieces either struck one of the horses, or struck immediately in front of them. The horses dashed or sprang towards the precipice. The wheels on the right-hand side of the buggy went over the unprotected edge of the precipice. The buggy tilted or slanted at a considerable angle in the direction of the precipice. The plaintiff, a very heavy man, instantly threw himself over towards the left against his companion, forcing the latter out of the buggy. The plaintiff was later found by his companion lying unconscious near the middle of the road forty or fifty feet away from the place where the companion had fallen. It also appeared that the wheels of the buggy .were over the edge of the road for only a distance of three feet before they recovered the roadway. There was no evidence to show at what point plaintiff fell from the buggy. Held, that under the evidence the defendant company was not liable for the injuries sustained.</p>