Goorin v. Allegheny Traction Co.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Goorin v. Allegheny Traction Co., 179 Pa. 327 (Pa. 1897)
36 A. 207; 1897 Pa. LEXIS 640
Dean, Fell, McCollum, Mitchell, Sterrett, Williams

Goorin v. Allegheny Traction Co.

Opinion of the Court

Opinion by

Me. Chief Justice Sterrett,

This action of trespass by a passenger on an Allegheny Traction Company’s car was brought against that company and the Pittsburg & Birmingham Traction Company to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from the collision of a car of one of the companies with a car of the other company, occasioned by the conjoint negligence of said companies.

The time, place and circumstances of the collision, without more, are strongly presumptive of the gross negligence of one, if not both, of the defendant companies. Their respective cars were approaching each other, on a wide, level and well lighted street, and in full view of each other, and yet they collided at the crossing. As is quite natural in such cases, each of the alleged wrong-doers, in endeavoring to exculpate itself, was not unwilling to make it appear that the other alone was the culpable party, while both endeavored to show that plaintiff himself was guilty of contributory negligence that would bar a recovery against either. On the other hand the plaintiff was endeavoring to successfully bear the burden he had assumed of proving that the collision was the direct result of the conjoint negligence of the defendant companies. The trend of such trilateral con*333troversies is generally towards the fuller development of the facts.

Without undertaking to review the testimony, or even to refer specially to its more salient points, it is sufficient to say that a careful consideration of it has satisfied us that, it presented questions of fact, relating to the negligence of each defendant, and also to the alleged contributory negligence of the plaintiff himself, which the jury alone could legally determine. The testimony was all for them and not for the court; and it was submitted in a fair and impartial charge in which we find no substantial error. There is nothing in either of the three specifications that requires further notice.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Cassel Goorin v. The Allegheny Traction Company, and The Pittsburgh & Birmingham Traction Co.
Cited By
3 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Negligence — Street railways — Collision—Contributory negligence — Joint tortfeasors. In an action by a passenger against two street railway companies to recover damages for a broken arm, the evidence was conflicting as to whether or not the plaintiff sat with his arm projecting from an open window. The plaintiff was riding in a car of one of the defendants when it collided with a car of the other defendant. The respective cars approached each other on a wide, level and well lighted street, and in full view of each other, and collided at a crossing. There was no distinct agreement or arrangement between the two companies as to the right of way at the crossing. Each of the companies introduced evidence to the effect that the accident was caused by the negligence of the motorman of the other company. Held, that the question of the negligence of the two companies and of the contributory negligence of the plaintiff was for the jury.