Harrigan v. Interurban Railway Co.
Harrigan v. Interurban Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
I. On March 1, 1912, the plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant, working with a section gang, the particular duty on that day being in shoveling snow from the sides of the tracks. The foreman of the force of men with which plaintiff was at work was one Buckley. At a point on the line west of Altoona they were met by another section
The evidence on the part of plaintiff was to the effect that, as they were moving westward, he with his back to the direction in which they were going, after going a distance of about two miles, the hand ear was stopped to look for an interurban train which was then past due. The train not being seen or heard, the men were directed to run the car on down the track, westward, and through a cut, and in order to get through it before reaching the train, the men were ordered to pump hard. It was testified that when such direction was given the men resumed their former positions on the hand car, and propelled it downgrade at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour, and succeeded in getting through the cut. After passing through the cut some one gave warning of the approaching interurban ear. Upon this being done the plaintiff turned to see where the passenger car was. He testified that upon the warning of the coming car the brake was put on, causing the hand ear to lurch, the men at the same time shuffling in their positions, and he was thereby caused to release his hold on the handle bar; that, because of the brake being suddenly put on, the car jerked, and with his hold loosened from the handle bar, he lost his balance and fell from the car, which ran upon him,
Many grounds of negligence were charged, but in the submission of the case to the jury, the trial court stated "but three, the proof of any one- or more of which would, in 'the absence of contributory negligence, permit a finding for the plaintiff. The negligence submitted was: (1) In permitting more men to ride and be upon the hand car than could safely ride or be thereon; (2) in ordering the plaintiff and the other employees to proceed upon the hand ear such'a short period óf time before the time'scheduled for the arrival at that point of the east-bound interürban car, without awaiting' the arrival and passage of said car at a point east of the cut; and (3) in operating the hand car at a high rate of speed in a westerly direction, when the east-bound car was known to be rapidly approaching from the west. The verdict was for the plaintiff.
The errors assigned, while many, are, in the discussion of the ease, grouped under three general heads, to wit: That no negligence of defendant was shown which proximately caused the injury; that plaintiff contributed to his own injury; and that he assumed the risk as to every act of negligence charged. No error is assigned which does not come within one or another of these general objections, and their determination will be decisive of all questions presented by this appeal.
Now, it is not alleged that the intestate did not know that the ear was ‘overcrowded;’ nor is there any inference to be drawn to that effect. On the contrary, the inference is that,
The statement of facts which serve as the ground for tbe foregoing conclusion of the Kentucky court do not find a parallel here. There it was presumed that the employee knew of the overcrowded condition of the car, and the dangers which attended it. Here it was pleaded that plaintiff was inexperienced in the use of a hand car, and knew nothing of the dangers attending its operation, and there was evidence to support this claim. Unless it could be said that the danger resulting from operating the hand car when it was overcrowded was apparent, and was a matter of such common observation, that the plaintiff was bound to know it, the rule of the cited case could not apply. But it will be noted that that case is made to turn upon the question of assumption of risk, rather than that of negligence, the latter claim not being settled by it.
The dimensions of the hand car platform were about four feet four inches in width by six feet in length, a part of the space being taken up by the handle bars, levers, and parts used in its operation. The crew which was on the ear when it first went out was seven men. At the time of the accident to plaintiff, and on its trip from Altoona westward, it carried ten men, with a number of tools. The evidence tended to show that the ear was crowded, the men wearing heavy clothing, and that for want of room, while there was sufficient space for their feet, they could not all — that is, the four on each side of the handle bars — stand full front, but were compelled to be sideways. There would be fair question whether this condition would be a sufficient showing from which negligence might be found, if it was only a matter of operation under ordinary circumstances, unattended by other conditions which might serve to increase the dangers of the position. But coupled with this fact must be considered the proof that the
This same condition has bearing upon what followed the warning of the approaching interurban car. It was testified that the brake was suddenly applied, and then again, causing the hand ear to rock and lurch, and the men shuffled in their positions; and that these causes operated as the reason for plaintiff loosening his hold on the handle bar, and, following that, his fall and accident. Whether the overloading of the ear, its speed at the time of the accident, and the order to proceed at that rate of speed, in view of the known fact that the interurban car might be met at any time, present questions which we cannot say, as a matter of law, are without negligent conditions. While negligence may not be presumed from the happening of an accident, yet, where the facts are such that from them a jury might properly find that there was a failure of duty in some one or more of the ways charged, the courts have not the right to determine to the contrary. Some acts are of themselves so openly and apparently negligent that the proof of them may be taken as presumptive of liability if injury results from them. Others and more generally so are of such nature that it becomes a question of fact under all the circumstances for the jury to determine. Walters v. C., R. I. & P. Ry., 41 Iowa, 71; Murphy v. C., R. I. & P. Ry., 38 Iowa, 539; 29 Cyc. 418.
The case of Campbell v. C., R. I. & P. Ry., 45 Iowa, 76, cited by appellant, is not in conflict with the conclusion reached. An instruction in that ease was to the effect that, unless there was more than ordinary danger to be apprehended, because a train was past due and liable to approach at any time, the section foreman was not required to refrain from
The case of Frandsen v. C., R. I. & P. Ry., 36 Iowa, 372, also relied upon by appellant was for the recovery of damages resulting from a collision of a train and a hand car, and is authority only for the rule as there stated that, although the train was behind time, this would not justify the boss and men in setting off their cars and awaiting the train. It does not' go to the question of what constitutes a prudent operation of the car under the circumstances shown to have existed, but held that was a question for the jury.
We conclude that the proof required the submission of • the question of negligence to the jury.
The claimed want of experience of the plaintiff which the evidence tended to establish made this with the other questions for the determination of the jury. — Affirmed. ■
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Daniel Harrigan v. Interurban Railway Company
- Status
- Published