99 Pa. Super. 141 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1930
Argued May 6, 1930. This suit is the result of an automobile accident which occurred on the evening of March 10, 1928, at 7:30 o'clock in the open country on the West Run Road between Homestead and Lincoln Place, Allegheny County. Verdict was rendered in favor of each of the plaintiffs, but on motion, judgment was entered for defendant n.o.v.
The plaintiffs testified that they were in a Ford coupe and were about to enter "a pretty large curve" when they saw, for the first time, the defendant's car coming in the opposite direction, about fifty feet distant, skidding across the road at an angle of about forty-five degrees and traveling at the rate of approximately thirty miles an hour; that the road is of brick construction, twenty feet wide, and was level at the point of the accident. Jesse Hatch, Sr., one of the plaintiffs, testified that there was ice on the road "in a few places." Joseph Asson, a motorcycle officer, witness called by the plaintiffs, testified, in part, on cross-examination, as follows:
"Q. Did you notice the condition of the brick at or in the vicinity of the point where you found these two automobiles?
"A. That night the road was very slippery.
"Q. What made it slippery? *144
"A. Ice.
"Q. There wasn't ice all over the road, was there, Mr. Asson?
"A. The road that night was in very bad condition. There was mud and ice."
It will be noticed that this witness did not specifically answer the question as to the condition of the road at the place of the accident. In view of Jesse Hatch, Sr.'s testimony that the road was a little slippery in a few places, we cannot conclude that Asson was referring to the place of the accident, at least he did not definitely so state.
Bougher, the driver of defendant's car, said that he was driving on the right side of the road toward the middle at the rate of twenty to twenty-five miles an hour, and that is the only evidence of the speed of the defendant's car prior to the accident; that immediately on seeing the automobile of the plaintiffs, which was about fifty to seventy-five feet away, he took his "foot off the gas and let the car slow down" to between ten and fifteen miles an hour and pulled over to the right side of the road. There was a bad hole in the road about one foot deep, two feet wide, and four feet long, with loose bricks surrounding it, which he straddled with his car and had almost passed over it when the rear wheel skidded on a strip of ice which lay between the right curb and the hole, which caused his car to slide into the depression and him to lose control of the steering wheel, and resulted in his car suddenly skidding to the left, coming in contact with the plaintiffs' car. Bougher was unable to see the ice which had formed from the freezing of a small rivulet of water which had seeped from the adjacent field through a break five or six feet long in the curb at that point. This was the only ice that he saw on the road, with the exception of a small amount about a quarter of a mile distant from the place of the accident. *145
The collision was not of sufficient force to move the plaintiffs' car according to the statement of Hatch, "it remained practically in the same place." When the defendant's car came to rest, it was diagonally across the road about twenty feet away.
Was this evidence sufficient to prove the negligence of the defendant?
It is conceded that the skidding of an automobile does not of itself establish or constitute negligence. It was incumbent upon the plaintiffs to prove that the skidding resulted from the negligent act of the defendant; otherwise, he is absolved from the consequences: Bernstein v. Smith,
This case is similar to Ferrell v. Solski,
We are not unmindful that it is proper to take into consideration the distance which a car travelled after a collision in order to ascertain whether the car was operated carelessly. In Lorah v. Rinehart,
The conditions after the accident in the case at bar do not speak so convincingly of negligent operation of a car and are insufficient to convict this defendant of carelessness.
The appellant urges also for our consideration, Schoepp v. Gerety,
The cases cited by the appellant are not analogous to the facts in this case. A careful review of all the testimony and the authorities cited convinces us that the conclusion of the learned court below that there was no proof of negligence on the part of the defendant has not been successfully assailed.
Judgment is affirmed.