Darwood v. Union Traction Co.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Darwood v. Union Traction Co., 189 Pa. 592 (Pa. 1899)
42 A. 290; 1899 Pa. LEXIS 699
Dean, Fell, Green, McCollum, Mitchell, Sterrett, Williams

Darwood v. Union Traction Co.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

On the trial in the court below the defendant offered no testimony, and consequently the case was disposed of solely on plaintiff’s evidence, part of which tended to prove that defendant was guilty of negligence in carelessly running its car at an unsafe rate of speed, etc. This, without more, would have necessitated submission of the case to the jury; but it also appeared by undisputed evidence that the plaintiff himself was guilty of negligence which contributed to his injury. In view of this undisputed fact, the learned trial judge rightly held that plaintiff could not recover and, accordingly, directed the jury to find for the defendant. The evidence of plaintiff’s contributory negligence was such that a verdict in plaintiff’s favor was unwarranted, and, if found, could not have been sustained. It, therefore, follows that there was no error in directing the jury to find for the defendant.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
Joseph E. Darwood v. The Union Traction Company
Cited By
5 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Negligence—Street railways—Collisions between wagon and car—Contributory negligence. A person who drives a wagon upon the tracks of a street railway without looking for a car, and without having his horse under control, is guilty of contributory negligence, and if he is injured in a collision between a car and his wagon he is not entitled to recover damages from the railway company.