61 A.2d 926 | D.C. | 1948
Plaintiff recovered a judgment for damages for personal injuries sustained when she fell down a flight of steps in a rooming house operated by defendant. Plaintiff went to the house to visit a friend who had a room on the second floor. To reach the second floor plaintiff walked up a flight of stairs used in common by the roomers and their guests. When leaving plaintiff reached for the bannister and felt for the top step but missed both and fell to the bottom of the stairs.
It was the duty of defendant to use reasonable care to keep the stairway properly lighted,
Defendant does not argue that the evidence did not present a jury question as to his negligence but he contends that the court should have held plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law because she attempted to descend the stairs in the same darkened condition she found them on ascending. This contention cannot be sustained.
Although there are exceptional cases where the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom are so clear that contributory negligence may be said to exist as a matter of law, whenever reasonable men may honestly differ either as to the facts or the inferences to be drawn from the facts, both negligence and contributory negligence are questions of fact.
In Hill v. Raymond, 65 App.D.C. 144, 146, 81 F.2d 278, 280, where the facts were somewhat similar to those in the present
The question of plaintiff’s contributory negligence was properly submitted to the jury.
Affirmed.
Kay v. Cain, 81 U.S.App.D.C. 24, 154 F.2d 305; cf. Phillips v. Capital Investment & Guaranty Co., D.C.Mun.App., 32 A.2d 249.
Yellow Cab Co. of D. C., Inc. v. Griffith, D.C.Mun.App., 40 A.2d 340; Walker v. Dante, 61 App.D.C. 175, 58 F.2d 1076; Wagar v. Stalcup, 64 App.D.C. 50, 73 F.2d 986; Gleason v. Academy of the Holy Cross, U.S.App.D.C., 168 F.2d 561.