16 A.2d 527 | Pa. | 1940
Elizabeth Hill appeals from the refusal of the court below to take off a compulsory nonsuit entered in an action of trespass instituted by her against West Penn Railways Company, appellee, to recover for personal injuries which she claims to have sustained while a passenger in one of its trolley cars.
A woman 56 years of age, and weighing between 165 and 175 pounds, appellant testified that she boarded appellee's trolley car near her home in Everson, early in the morning of December 24, 1936, to ride the mile to her work in Scottdale, as she had been accustomed to do for many years; that after she had received her change from a bill presented in payment of the fare, she turned and, without supporting herself, as she admits, proceeded towards the rear of the car, which was then in motion, to where she always sat; that as she was thus "hurrying to get to a seat", because "the car was going fast", and after she had proceeded only a few feet, the car was stopped with a jerk described as "awful", "terrific" and "real hard"; and that as a result thereof she was thrown, or fell, backwards to the floor. It appears that, falling backwards, appellant grasped the metal hand-hold attached to the back-rest of the nearest seat, but the back of the seat, being of the usual reversible type found in trolley cars, slid toward her as she pulled her weight against it. When it came to rest, she was too far over-balanced to retain her hold and she fell to the floor, fracturing her hip. There were no other passengers on the car at the time and the only testimony in the case is that of the appellant herself.
We are bound to conclude, as did the court below, that appellant's proof did not measure up to the standard required to sustain a charge of negligence in cases of this character. As we said in the recent case of Staller v. Philadelphia RapidTransit Co.,
Here, as in the Staller case, appellant's evidence as to the manner in which the accident occurred and its effect upon her is entirely consistent with, and indicates nothing more than, a mere loss of equilibrium and a fall as a result thereof; the decision in that case is, therefore, controlling here.
That appellant was unable to retain her grip on the handhold, grasped in an unsuccessful attempt to regain her balance, is clearly not such an additional circumstance *300
as would permit of an inference that the jerk was extraordinary or unusual in character. The court below appropriately states: "It is obvious that [appellant] was in a position to be easily overbalanced by any change in the motion of the car, and that as she toppled over, drawing the back of the seat toward her, the weight and twist of her body in falling would be sufficient to break her hold." Nor, is appellant's case strengthened to any extent by reason of the fact that the trolley was started before she was seated. As stated in Picard v. Ridge Avenue Ry.Co.,
Judgment affirmed.