Trumbower v. Lehigh Valley Transit Co.

Citations

• 235 Pa. 397
• 84 A. 403
• 1912 Pa. LEXIS 557

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Head on collision between car and wagon — Imputation of negligence — passenger in carriage— Case for jury.</p> <p>1. In an action against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries by an occupant of a carriage who was injured in practically a head-on collision between one of defendant’s cars and a carriage, the case is for the jury and a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained where the evidence tends to show that the accident occurred on a winter night; that snow at the sides of the road was thirty inches in depth and packed and frozen so that vehicles could not pass through it or turn from the track, except at places where openings had been made; that the plaintiff and other occupants of the carriage were vigilant an looking for a car, and that when they first saw one it was 200 or 300 feet in front, running at the rate of 35 or 40 miles an hour; that its head light was very dim, and no notice of its approach had been given; that the driver at once looked for a place where he could turn out, and that the collision occurred while he was in the act of turning into an opening at a gateway.</p> <p>2. The negligence of the driver of a private conveyance cannot be imputed to a passenger who has no control over him; but if the passenger voluntarily goes into a patent danger that he could have avoided or joins the driver in testing a danger, he cannot recover for any resulting injury.</p>