182 A. 529 | Pa. | 1935
Plaintiffs, husband and wife, instituted this action of trespass against the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company for injuries to the wife. The jury returned a verdict in their favor. Subsequently judgment n. o. v. was entered for defendant, and it is from this action of the court below that plaintiffs appeal, assigning as error the entry of judgment in defendant's favor.
West Allegheny Avenue runs east and west in the City of Philadelphia. It is 50 feet wide from curb to curb and has two 36-foot sidewalks. There are double car tracks on this street, for eastbound and westbound trolley car traffic respectively. On January 25, 1929, at about eight o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Gara was returning to her home from a store located on West Allegheny Avenue, when the accident giving rise to this suit occurred. She testified that, upon leaving the store, she walked to the curb and looked about. The sidewalk was covered with ice, as was the street between the curb and the car rails. She saw no traffic except an eastbound trolley car, which was standing at the 29th Street intersection. She then walked to the eastbound car rails. Before entering the car rails, according to her own testimony, she again looked and saw the trolley car standing at the 28th Street intersection, some 218 feet distant, and no traffic moving east or west. She then entered the eastbound car rails and proceeded eastward, with her back toward the trolley car. She had reached a point some 171 feet east of the point where she had entered the rails when she was struck by defendant's trolley car.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, we are of the opinion that Mrs. Gara's contributory negligence was so obvious as to require the judgment n. o. v. entered by the court below. When asked if she knew that the car she had seen at the 28th Street intersection was likely to start up at any time, she answered in the affirmative. It does not appear, however, that she looked back at any time after she entered *499
the car rails in order to ascertain the progress of the trolley car, which she must have known would overtake her in due time. In Virgilio v. Walker and Brehm,
In McGovern v. Union Traction Co.,
Judgment affirmed.