Schultz v. Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co.
Schultz v. Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff’s wagon was struck by a car of the defendant as he drove out of Borden’s Lane across the track which is located on the Philadelphia & West Chester Turnpike Road, with the result that he sustained personal injuries set forth in the statement of claim. Defense is made on the ground that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence and that there was no negligence on the part of the defendant. Considering the evidence offered by the plaintiff apart from that presented by the defense we do not find support for the contention that there was contributory negligence. The plaintiff testified that he was watching for a car, looking to see if a car was coming or going; that he was careful about it; that when he came near the track he stopped and looked and that he did not see a car. He was then shown a photograph of the location and pointed out on the photograph the place where he stopped. “I stopped right here before the first rail. Q. When you stopped what did you do? A. I was stopping to see whether I could see a car or not and as I was not able to see any car coming I started to go across the rail.” He stated that he could not see more than two hundred feet up the track. The view was somewhat obscured by trees and bushes growing by the roadside and there was a down
The negligence attributed to the defendant is that the motorman could have seen the plaintiff on the track at a sufficient distance from the crossing to have avoided the accident in the exercise of care. It does not clearly appear how far the crossing could be observed from a car coming eastwardly but there is evidence from which it could be concluded that it might be seen at some distance west of the toll house and it appears from the testimony of the motorman that when he reached the toll house he saw the plaintiff’s team on the track. The following testimony of the motorman discloses the situation: “Q. What part of the horses did you see first. A. I do not recall that. Q. But you do recall when you were up at the toll house you saw these horses on the track. A. Yes, sir. Q. Two horses. A. Yes, sir.” It appears therefore from the defendant’s own evidence that the team might have been seen before the car reached the toll house and that the plaintiff was on the track when that point was reached. The evidence of the defendant’s engineer shows that the distance from the lane to the toll house is about one hundred and fifty feet. For more than this distance then, the motorman had a view of the crossing
The assignments are overruled and the judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.