216 Pa. 590 | Pa. | 1907
Opinion by
This was an action of trespass brought by Marie B. Crooks
Mr. and Mrs. Crooks had been spending the evening at the house of a friend on East street. It was their intention to return home by a trolley car running south on that street. It appears from the evidence that the cars made sufficient noise in passing, to be plainly heard inside the house. When Mr. Crooks was about ready to leave the house, a car was heard to pass, and some remark was made about missing it. Hearing another car coming, Mr. Crooks went out of the house, followed first by his friend, Mr. Erhardt, and then by Mrs. Crooks. The Erhardt house was on the east side of the street, while the single track traversed by defendant’s cars was laid about three feet from the curb, on the other, or west, side of the street. From the steps of the house to the rail, was a distance of about seventeen feet. It was Mr. Crooks’s intention to stop the car at the corner of an alley, almost opposite the house, and in order to do this, he attempted to cross in front of the approaching car, as the opening to admit passengers was at the rear platform, upon the other side of the car. While in the very act of stepping or leaping across the track, Mr. Crooks was struck by the car, and killed. Mr. Erhardt who was close behind, sprang backwards, and saved himself.
Plaintiff produced a number of witnesses, who testified that the car was running very rapidly and did not come to a stop until it reached a point about 200 feet beyond the place of the accident. It was also shown by plaintiff’s witnesses that there was no headlight on the front of the car. But the car was lighted upon the inside and the light shone through the windows, and a great deal of noise was made by the car as it ran, so that it could be heard at some distance. It is clear from the testimony that the deceased heard the car while he was in the house, and saw it after he came out upon the street, as it approached, and then attempted to cross in front of it, for the purpose of stopping and boarding that particular car.
The railway consists of a single track, and the space between the rails was about five feet. Two, or at most three, steps,
The testimony is undisputed as to the manner in which this most unfortunate accident occurred. As we have seen, one step, or at the most two, carried the deceased from a point outside the line of the track into collision with the car. It must have occurred in less than a second of time. The facts speak for themselves. The action of the deceased can only be characterized as contributory negligence, and the judgment is reversed.