Ward v. Pittsburgh Railways Co.

Citations

• 68 Pa. Super. 139
• 1917 Pa. Super. LEXIS 87

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Street railways — Passenger—Biding on bumper— Contributory negligence.</p> <p>Riding on the bumper of a street car is negligence per se, which ordinarily will prevent a recovery.</p> <p>In an action by a boy over eighteen years of age, .a passenger, against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries, no recovery can be had where the evidence shows that the plaintiff, because of the crowded condition of the car, chose a position outside of the body of the car in the rear, standing partly on the ear bumper, and partly on the chain supporting the fender; that in this position he paid his fare, and shortly after the car started the chain broke, throwing him to the ground and causing the injury for which suit was brought.</p> <p>In such a case the right to recover cannot be based on the theory that the company, having for a number of years accepted persons as passengers who rode on the bumper and fender, it could not now be said that such a position was,one of manifest danger, and that having so accepted such person, a custom was established which cast on the defendant a duty to provide safe facilities upon which to ride in this manner.</p>