252 Pa. 387 | Pa. | 1916
Opinion by
This is an action of trespass brought by the mother to recover damages for injuries to a child three years of age caused by the latter stepping into a hole in the sidewalk. It is conceded that the question of negligence of the defendant and of the contributory negligence of the mother were properly submitted to the jury for determination, and that both questions were decided against the, defendant. The defendant alleges that there was no evidence in the case showing that the child by reason of the accident would suffer any diminution of earning power during her minority or after she arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and that the court erred in submitting the question to the jury. This is the only question raised by the assignments of error. There was a verdict of $3,500 in favor of the child and $801 in favor of the mother.
The testimony introduced by the plaintiffs showed that the child was healthy and normal at its birth, and had continued so until the time of the accident with the possible exception of a few weeks about a year prior to the accident when there was a slight lameness in her right hip, which had since entirely cleared up. It was con
The contention of the defendant is that the evidence did not show that the child was permanently injured, that her injuries may have resulted from a cause differ
We think the learned counsel for the appellant failed to grasp the effect of the plaintiffs’ testimony. We have alluded to it briefly, and we think it was sufficient to-warrant the jury in finding that the fall on the pavement caused the injuries of which the plaintiff now complains, that the result of the injuries are still existent, that the disease affecting her hip-joint may return at any time, that her leg has been shortened, and that the lameness caused by the injuries is permanent. It is true, that the plaintiff has not established by direct evidence what diminution of earning power she has sustained by showing what she earned at the time of the accident or would probably earn in the future. Such elements may be shown and considered by a jury as a basis for determining earning capacity, and would be required in the case of an adult, but we have never extended the rule so as to require such evidence in the case of a child of the plaintiff’s age. If such testimony was produced, it would be merely speculative and would have very little ground to support it. To require it would deprive an injured child of the plaintiff’s age of the protection of the law against the careless and negligent acts of another. Children of such tender years are, like adults, entitled to the protection of the law, and when they have been injured as a result of the negligent or illegal acts of another, the best evidence available to sustain an action instituted by them must be produced, but that only requires what can reasonably be expected under the circumstances. The plaintiff has complied with this rule, and she has, therefore, brought herself within the doctrine of our cases. Hoon v. Beaver Valley Traction Company, 204 Pa. 369, was an action to recover damages for the death of a boy six years of age. The appellant claimed there was not sufficient evidence of the
The judgment is affirmed.