115 Ga. 379 | Ga. | 1902
Hatcher sued the railway company for damages; and demurrers, both general and special, were filed by the defendant. The court overruled the demurrers, and the defendant excepted to the judgment of the court overruling the general demurrer. The substance of the petition was as follows: The plaintiff came to the city of Waycross as a passenger on one of the defendant’s trains, and alighted from the same at the passenger-depot of the defendant. Immediately upon leaving the train he attempted to cross the track of the defendant on the north side of the passenger-station, his purpose being to go to a hotel in the city of Waycross. The only means of leaving the passenger-station or of crossing the tracks on the north side of the station is a sidewalk of the city of Waycross, which is a public thoroughfare of that city and is constantly and continuously used by passengers in going to and from the defendant’s depot, as well as by the public generally. When the plaintiff approached «this thoroughfare for the purpose of crossing, it was obstructed by a passenger-train of the defendant standing thereon. The plaintiff' then proceeded westward along that
As against a general demurrer, we are satisfied that the petition set forth a cause of action. The train standing upon the sidewalk of the city was an obstruction of a public thoroughfare, and the mere fact that the plaintiff left the sidewalk and went into the yards of the defendant for the purpose of going around the obstruction did not make him a trespasser. Not being a trespasser, the diligence for his safety due from the company, as well as his own diligence regarding this danger, were for determination by the jury. This case is, in principle, controlled by that of Smith v. Railway Co., 84 Ga. 698.
Judgment affirmed.