Opinion by
This record presents but a single question under the assignments of error; whether, under all the evidence, the court below should have affirmed the request for binding instructions presented by defendant. The evidence as to the alleged negligence of the servants of the defendant company, in failing to give warning of the approach of the train to the grade crossing, was such as to carry the case to the jury upon that question.
The only question, therefore, now presented for consideration is whether the undisputed facts presented such a case as to require the court to determine, as matter of law, that the conduct of plaintiff involved contributory negligence, which must pre
The general rules by which the conduct of persons passing over railroad tracks is to be governed are too well settled to require discussion. Whether such persons have come up to the measure of care required is sometimes a question free from doubt as to the facts, and is to be determined as a question of law, but when the facts are in dispute, or the inferences to be drawn from them are not clear, it' becomes a question for the jury. In an action to recover damages for injuries received at a grade crossing, if the undisputed facts establish that the plaintiff did not stop at a proper place to look and listen, it is the duty of the court to declare the law adversely to the right to recover, but if the evidence is conflicting, or the facts are left in doubt, the conclusions are to be drawn by the jury: The Central R. R. Co. of N. J. v. Feller, 84 Pa. 226; Urias v. Pennsylvania R. R., 152 Pa. 326; McGill v. Pittsburg & Western Ry., 152 Pa. 331; Whitman v. Pennsylvania R. R., 156 Pa. 175; Davidson v. Lake Shore R. R., 171 Pa. 522. The fact that there is a conflict of evidence upon some other question in the case is not pertinent to the inquiry; the dispute must be as to facts which are material to the question of plaintiff’s negligence. If the plaintiff’s evidence establishes his own negligence and the evidence produced by defendant simply tends to make that negligence more clearly apparent, that is not such a dispute as to facts as will justify the court in submitting the question to the pry-
In the present case, the plaintiff testified that he did stop at a point distant from the crossing, and witnesses on behalf of defendant testified that the plaintiff did not stop at any place. Here was a dispute as to the facts; but if the evidence most favorable to plaintiff established that he stopped at a place where he could not see and then drove on, passing a point, with which he was familiar, from which he could have seen the track for a considerable distance, where reasonable prudence dictated that he should have stopped, looked and lis
The plaintiff, who was perfectly familiar with the premises, was, in the daytime, driving along this public road, in a closely covered wagon, with a glass front, a glass window in the forward end of each side and one in the back. He testifies that, as he approached the crossing, coming from the direction of Wilkes-Barre, he stopped at a point ten or twelve yards north of the northerly end of the bridge and looked and listened for approaching trains; hearing nothing he sat back, where he could
The contributory negligence of plaintiff was established beyond doubt by the evidence which he himself produced, that conclusion was not negatived by the evidence offered by the defendant company, and it was, therefore, incumbent upon the court to affirm the request of the defendant for binding instructions: R. R. Oo. v. Feller, supra; Urias v. Pennsylvania R. R., supra; Davidson v. Lake Shore R. R., supra; Gleim v. Harris, 181 Pa. 387; Hartman v. Receivers, 182 Pa. 172.
The first specification of error is sustained.
Judgment reversed.
