Hincken v. Beechview Borough
Hincken v. Beechview Borough
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiffs were husband and wife and resided in the city of Philadelphia. The wife, Mary G. Hincken, had been in the borough of Beachview, Allegheny county, for about two weeks preceding the alleged accident to her on a sidewalk, visiting her son, Everett Hincken, who at that time and for ten months preceding lived in the Henderson apartments in Beachview borough. The Henderson apartments were located at the comer of Eighth and Trenton avenues. From these apartments to Seventh and Trenton avenues was about 200 feet. The grade on Eighth avenue between the apartments and the street below where the accident occurred was about thirty per cent, was unpaved and had no sidewalk except a boardwalk. The plaintiff’s testimony was that she
On the morning of the accident, in company with her son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Hincken started down Eighth avenue and when she walked over the ground where the sections of the boardwalk had been removed, she slipped in the mud and fell and sustained the injuries to secure damages for which this suit was brought. The accident happened in broad daylight on a sunshiny forenoon. Mrs. Hincken testified that she was looking carefully and that she had previously been over this place five several times. She testified: “Q. Just as you got to the place where the accident occurred you were still walking carefully? A. I certainly was. Q. And you were still looking down? A. I knew that bad place was coming, and I took every precaution.” She further testified that the sun was shining and that the ground was slippery where the sidewalk had been removed.
The material allegation in the declaration is as follows: “On said street at a point near South avenue, two sections of the boardwalk which was there laid for the use of pedestrians had been taken up rendering the said side
At the trial the defendent presented a point as follows: “Under all the evidence the verdict of the jury should be for the defendant.” Answer: “Refused.” Defendant’s fourth point was as follows: “Plaintiff having admitted that she was familiar with the dangerous nature of the sidewalk at the place of the accident; that her view was unobstructed; that the day was clear, the jury must find for defendant if it finds that if plaintiff had looked she could have seen any obstruction and avoided the accident.” Answer: “Refused.” We think both of these points ought to have been affirmed. The only assignment of error is that the court erred in refusing to grant the
In deciding this case we are disposed to assume that the declaration is sufficient and that the plaintiff, Mrs. Hincken, had a right to travel down Eighth avenue at the time of the accident, if with her knowledge of the condition of the sidewalk owing to what she had seen before and what she saw at the time of the accident she saw fit to take the risk of going over that sidewalk. But the view we take of her case is that her full knowledge of the conditions existing there prevents her and also her husband from recovering because she was guilty of contributory negligence.
In Hendrickson v. Chester, 221 Pa. 120, the Supreme Court said: “It was not shown that the place of the accident was essentially or continuously dangerous, though it might become so from time to time when the ice melted in the day and froze in the night. There was no accumulation of ice or snow that remained there all the time. This resulted in a temporary and changeable condition dependent on the variation of the weather and it appeared that on the day preceding the evening of the accident the ice had melted and the street was clear. The learned judge was of opinion that the most that was shown ‘was a general slippery condition of the street which occurs in all cities in winter time.’ We have not been convinced that this was an erroneous view.” In the present case there was simply a portion of the sidewalk
In Lerner v. Philadelphia, 221 Pa. 294, there is a very concise and interesting opinion of the Supreme Court delivered by Mr. Justice Stewart which is closely in point in the present case. In that opinion it is said: "When the accident occurs in broad daylight, in consequence of an open and exposed defect in the sidewalk, the burden rests upon the party complaining to show conditions outside of himself which prevented him seeing the defect, or which would excuse his failure to observe it. If such conditions exist, there is excuse for walking by faith. When they do not exist, the law charges the party with failure to do what was required of him. And that is this case. The accident occurred at half past four o’clock in the afternoon of an April day. The defect in the pavement was the displacement of some bricks. Into the de
In Kennedy v. Philadelphia, 220 Pa. 273, it was held as stated in the syllabus: “A woman who trips over a block of cement raised by the root of a tree four inches above the level of a sidewalk, cannot recover from the city'for her injuries, if it appears that she knew of the defect, that her view was unobstructed, that the day was clear, and that if she had looked she could have seen the obstruction and have avoided the accident.” We also refer to Rothacker v. Philadelphia, 42 Pa. Superior Ct. 408, and Dwyer v. Port Allegany Borough, 216 Pa. 22.
Our conclusion is that the learned court below erred in refusing to enter judgment in favor of the defendant non obstante veredicto.
The judgment is reversed and judgment is here entered in favor of the defendant.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.