Wilson v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 177 Pa. 503
• 35 A. 677
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 1010

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Evidence—Province of court and jury.</p> <p>Negligence is the absence of care according to the circumstances, and is always a question for the jury when there is a reasonable doubt as to the facts or as to the inferences to be drawn from them. When the facts are either admitted or established by undisputed evidence, it is the duty of the court to declaro the law applicable to them; but when material facts are disputed, or inferences of fact are to be drawn from the testimony, it is the exclusive province of the jury to determine what they are.</p> <p>Negligence — Railroads—Gontributory negligence — Master and servant— Riding in dangerous place — Province of court and jury.</p> <p>In an action to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, a brakeman, employed by the defendant railroad company, the case is for the jury where the evidence for the plaintiff tends to show that the deceased was killed by the derailing of a train which was running on a defective roadbed, and the evidence for the defendant shows that before the accident the deceased was not in his proper place, but was sitting on a brake wheel, a place of danger; but it is not clear that at the time of the accident he was sitting in this dangerous position.</p>