19 Pa. Super. 362 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1902
Opinion by
The plaintiff sustained injuries of such a serious character that he could not recall the facts leading up to the accident for which he seeks to hold the defendant responsible. His witnesses, who viewed the occurrence, describe a very unusual and regrettable accident, and the liability of the defendant to pay him damages for injuries resulting therefrom is to be determined by its control over the proximate cause which induced it.
The plaintiff was riding a young horse which he had owned for a few days and had ridden past street cars on the day previous to the accident without any difficulty. He used a carriage bridle with blinders and was riding bareback upon a wide avenue on which were two street car tracks. As he approached Seventeenth street the horse was between the westbound track and the curb when' for some reason, not at all clear from the evidence, the horse became frightened and went upon the tracks, moving sideways, rearing and plunging. The plaintiff turned the horse off the track, or he went from the track independent of the will of the rider towards the south side and the car passed by him. At this point, as stated by several witnesses, the horse became unmanageable and ran by the car, tossing his head, rearing backward and forward and sideways, backing and plunging, galloping and leaping around, abreast of and ahead of the car, and when about the middle of the square he suddenly wheeled around, faced the car, reared, then stumbled and threw the plaintiff over his head on to the roadway in front of the car, which was then a short distance off but stopped before it reached him, and when released from the
In Kelly v. Pittsburg and Birmingham Traction Co., 10 Pa. Superior Ct. 644, the motorman directed his car into a horse which was approaching him, while in this case the horse was going in the direction of and ahead of the car until it unexpectedly whirled, faced the car and threw its rider to the ground. Such an extraordinary proceeding on the part of the horse could not be anticipated by the motorman, nor did the car touch the plaintiff. The only question was whether the car was so operated as to be the direct and sole cause of the fright of the horse which directly resulted in the plaintiff’s injuries. Of this there is not sufficient evidence to submit to a jury and the judgment is reversed.