279 Pa. 214 | Pa. | 1924
Opinion by
Penn Avenue extends through the City of Pittsburgh in an easterly and westerly direction and in the center thereof is a double track street railway. The current of traffic on the south side of the street is easterly and on the north side westerly. At a point some distance east of Ninth Street the avenue is crossed at right angles by an open street called Garrison Alley. On the morning of March 1, 1920, the plaintiff, Thomas W. Weaver, a traveling salesman, walked east along the south side of the avenue until he crossed the alley, where he looked back but saw no eastbound vehicles approaching. He continued a short distance further east until he saw
The case was rightly decided. While a pedestrian may cross a street between intersections, as was attempted here, yet when he does so he must exercise a higher degree of care than at a public crossing: Virgilio v. Walker, 254 Pa. 241; Arnold v. McKelvey, 253 Pa. 324. In the instant case plaintiff seemed oblivious to danger, and chose to walk by faith across a busy city street; in so doing, he assumed the risk. In Harris v. Commercial Ice Co., 153 Pa. 278, 280, Justice Mitchell, speaking for the court, says: “People are not entitled to walk the streets with closed eyes and inattentive minds. ......Even on a city street a man must heed what he is doing and where he is going, or he cannot complain of the consequences. This is the rule even on the sidewalk, Robb v. Connellsville Borough, 137 Pa. 42, — and when he steps into the cartway he is equally bound to remember that horses and vehicles have also a right-of-way there, to which he must give due attention or he will be barred of complaint as to the consequences.” Owing to the constant use of streets by motor vehicles, that lan
The order appealed from is affirmed.