Begley v. Pennsylvania Railroad
Begley v. Pennsylvania Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
There was evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant in running the freight train into the crowd at the station, in the insufficiency of the number of cars and keeping some of them locked, and perhaps also in having too few guards or employees to handle so large a number of expected passengers. On this point, therefore, the case had to go to the jury.
A more serious question is presented in regard to the contributory negligence of the plaintiff. At the time he was injured he was where he had no right to be. Passengers are bound to enter the train at the appropriate place, usually indicated by the platform, and to remain in the waiting room of the station or on the platform, according to the circumstances, until the train is ready: Flanagan v. Phila., etc., R. R. Co., 181 Pa. 237. Cases in which an intending passenger is justified in leaving the platform and crossing tracks, as in Kohler v. Penna. R. R. Co., 135 Pa. 346, are exceptional. When the train in the present case approached the station, there was a large crowd
Appellant cites Ellinger v. Phila., etc., R. R. Co., 153 Pa. 213, and other cases to show that a railroad company is not liable for rudeness or disorder among passengers to each other. But these cases are not applicable. The conduct of the crowd here was not treated as evidence to charge the defendant but to relieve the plaintiff from what otherwise would have been conclusive evidence of contributory negligence.
It is scarcely necessary to repeat that the power of this court under the act of 1891 to supervise verdicts as to their amounts is exceptional and only to be exercised in very gross cases. The verdict in this case was large, and the court below reduced it about one third. It is still large, but we see nothing to induce us to suppose that his discretion was not wisely used and entirely adequate to the requirements of justice.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Negligence—Railroads—Evidence—Question for jury. In an action against a railroad company by an intending passenger to recover damages for personal injuries sustained at a station, the question of defendants’ negligence and plaintiff’s contributory negligence is for the jury, where the evidence tends to show that at the time of the accident a large crowd of excursionists had gathered at the station, that several hundred of them rushed across the tracks to the uncrowded side, that plaintiff was pushed along with the crowd, that when the excursion train pulled in there proved to be an insufficiency of cars, some of which were kept locked, that when the plaintiff was on the third track, and while attempting to get on to the excursion train, a freight train on the third track was run into the crowd and plaintiff was injured. Negligence—Railroads—■Passengers—Station. Passengers are bound to enter a train at the appropriate place, usually indicated by the platform, and to remain in the waiting room of the station, or on the platform, according to the circumstances, until the train is ready. Cases in which an intending passenger is justified in leaving the platform and crossing tracks arc exceptional. Appeals—Amount of verdict—Act oj May 20, 1891, P. L. 101. The power of an appellate court under the act of May 20, 1891, to supervise verdicts as to their amounts is exceptional, and only to be exercised in very gross cases.