9 Pa. Super. 65 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1898
Opinion by
Second street in tbe borough of Jeannette crosses the Pennsylvania railroad at right angles by a bridge, in the center of which is the track of the defendant company. For a distance of three hundred feet or more south of the south end of the bridge the street is practically level. The bridge is one hundred eighteen and one half feet in length and is level. After leaving the north end of the bridge the railway extends in the same direction for forty or fifty feet, when it curves and proceeds on a steep grade up Gaskill avenue to First street, where it again curves and extends along the last mentioned street. From a point fifteen feet south of the south end of the bridge a car approaching from the other direction can first be seen at a distance of seven hundred and thirteen feet. Rounding the curve from First street to Gaskill avenue coming down the hill it would then disappear from view for a short distance, and then it could be seen for about thirty feet, when again it would be hid from view for about the same-distance. It would then appear in view at McCune’s house, a point about three hundred and eighty three feet distant from the first mentioned point, and thereafter would constantly remain in sight of any one approaching the bridge from the south.
The plaintiff’s driver was in the act of crossing this bridge from the south and when about half way across, a car of the defendant approaching from the north collided with his team. He and his companion jumped from the wagon across a railing into the footpath and escaped injury. The bridge was not wide enough for a car and a wagon to pass; nor, when the driver says he first saw the approaching car, was there time enough to reach the opposite end of the bridge or to back off before the collision.
1. The contention is that he was guilty of contributory negligence in driving on the bridge, and that the court ought so to have instructed the jury, as a matter of law. Considering the case in the light of the other undisputed facts to which we have alluded, the correctness of this position might be conceded, if he drove on the bridge without looking or listening, and, if he hud looked, would have seen the car at McCune’s
2. It is argued, that the allegations of negligence contained in the plaintiff’s statement were not sustained by any competent evidence. These allegations were (1) that the defendant by its servants so negligently and carelessly operated and ran its car as to lose control of the same; (2) that the defendant negligently failed to provide its cars with proper brakes and other appliances necessary and usual for the controlling and stopping of its cars; (3) 'that the defendant negligently failed to provide experienced and competent employees to operate its cars. If we are to accept the defendant’s theory as correct, the accident was not due to negligence in any of these particulars, but was due solely to the slippery condition of the rails, owing to a recent shower, and was unavoidable. As this condition is a very common one it might well be questioned whether or not, in view of the steepness of the grade, the curves in the track, and the narrowness of the bridge the company would not be held to a duty to provide appliances not ordinarily in use in order to meet the extra hazardous conditions. For if the loss of control of the car was due solely to the slipperiness of the track, it would seem that this would be a very common occurrence, and one always to be expected after a shower of rain. To say the least, this was a very perilous piece of track both to passengers and to persons crossing this narrow bridge in vehicles, if this explanation of the accident be the true one. We think, however, upon a fair view of the evidence, that there is no occasion for the court to lay down a stricter rule of law as to the duty of the defendant, at this par
All the assignments of error are overruled and the judgment is affirmed.