267 Pa. 344 | Pa. | 1920
Opinion by
Plaintiff, on a dark night, was traveling along a highway with which he was familiar, and knew that improvements had recently been made thereon. Under his huckstering wagon, there was attached a lantern throwing its rays a sufficient distance ahead to locate the feet of the horses, the ground around them and some distance ahead of the team. As he drove along, he came to a place where the old road was being reconstructed by having its grade reduced. This was accomplished by building a new road parallel thereto and lower down. The new road fell off quite rapidly from the point of intersection with the old road, as the latter had a very steep grade,— at 30 feet from the intersection the difference in elevation was four feet or more. At the time of the accident, the work was about completed, and, on reaching the intersection of the roads, his horses, in selecting a road on which to travel, took different routes, one taking the high road and the other the lower road, and the wagon, traveling partly on the high road and partly on the lower road, reached a place where it fell over, injuring the plaintiff. There was no barrier at the intersection, though one had been placed a short distance from it; some witnesses place it at 19 feet, others at 30, but as there was sufficient space between the barrier and the top of the slope on which a horse might walk on the old road, the exact location of the barrier with relation to the junction is immaterial, under the circumstances. There is some dispute as to the place where the accident happened. This, too, is unimportant, assuming the evidence in its most favorable light to plaintiff. • He was still guilty of contributory negligence. The driver of a wagon, or other vehicle, is required, at all times, in the exercise of due care, to make use of all his faculties when engaged in traveling along a public highway, to discover dangers. He must at certain places pause to afford his faculties full play that he may better protect himself; when he has reason to suspect, from the con
The judgment is affirmed.