216 Pa. 595 | Pa. | 1907
Opinion by
The question raised by this appeal is whether the case should have been withdrawn from the jury on the ground of contributory negligence. The plaintiff was injured at night while 'crossing Penn avenue at Seventh street in the city of Pittsburg. Cars were passing over the crossing every few seconds. There are two tracks on the avenue and two on Seventh street, and these tracks are connected by curves.and cars pass from the
From the plaintiff’s testimony it appears that the crossing was an exceptionally dangerous one; there were four tracks to watch, two straight ones and two that curved from the street. There was no safe place to stop until all the tracks had been crossed. He exercised due care before starting; the car standing on the avenue blocked the way of the car standing on Seventh street and was an assurance to him that the latter would not immediately start. He halted in the narrow space between the straight tracks in the middle of the avenue and saw that the car on Seventh street was still standing, and he was struck as he left the curved track. The weakness of his case is that between the time he looked at the Seventh street car and the time he was struck by it, it must have moved from a full stop sixty-five feet on a curve, and during this time he had only to glance in another direction and walk about twelve feet. It is highly improbable that his recollection was accurate as to all the facts detailed and that the accident happened in the way .described by him. It is not, however, impossible that it happened in this way, and the court would not have been justified in withdrawing the case from the jury on the ground that he stepped in front of a moving car which he either saw or should have seen. He was not proceeding heedlessly but with care, in a situation that was both dangerous and confusing. It has been repeatedly said
The judgment is affirmed.