Kuntz v. Waldameer Co.
Kuntz v. Waldameer Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The defendant company owned and operated what is called an amusement park in the suburbs of the City of Erie. To enable the desired patrons to reach the various buildings and structures provided for their entertainment and pleasure it became necessary for the defendant to construct and maintain a road across its own property leading from the public highway to- that portion of its grounds where the entertainment which sought public patronage was located. The public was thus invited to use the road as if it were an ordinary highway. Under such circumstances the duty imposed by law upon the defendant company to keep its road in a reasonably safe condition for those who availed themselves of its invitation cannot be doubted: Yocum v. Reading, 235 Pa. 552; Sheets v. Sunbury, Etc., Electric Ry. Co., 237 Pa. 153; Sellmer v. Ringling, 62 Pa. Superior Ct. 410. There was abundant evidence to warrant a finding that a dangerous rut or hole had been permitted by the defendant to exist in this road for such a period of time as to affect the company with constructive notice at least of its existence. The learned trial judge therefore rightly submitted to the jury, in a proper charge, the question of the defendant’s negligence. The verdict has established the fact such negligence existed.
We are of opinion the case was for the jury on both branches and we find no reversible error in the manner of its submission. The assignments of error are overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Negligence — Defective road — Street railway— Contributory negligence — Motorcycle. Where a street railway company maintains a road across its own property leading from a public highway to an amusement park, it is bound to keep such road in a reasonably safe condition for those who avail themselves of the company’s invitation to use it. If it permits a dangerous rut or hole to exist in the road for such a period of time as to affect the company with constructive notice, at least, of its existence, the company will be liable in damages for personal injuries to a woman who was thrown from a motorcycle by reason of such rut. In such a case where it appears that the plaintiff was riding behind her husband at night, and that the husband, who was a competent person to operate the machine, was blinded by the lights of an approaching automobile when the accident occurred, the plaintiff cannot be charged with contributory negligence as a matter of law, either because she was riding in an insecure place, or because she and her husband did not dismount; and this is the case although the husband testified that if he had not been blinded temporarily by the light of the automobile he would probably have seen the defect in the road, and could have avoided it.