Meitzner v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Meitzner v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
At the place where this accident occurred the defendant company maintains two tracks, one used for east-bound, the other for west-bound trains. Louis A. Meitzner, the plaintiff’s husband, approached the crossing from the north. At that moment a freight train was moving west on the track nearest him. After it had cleared the crossing he attempted to cross over, and was struck and -killed by the engine of a passing express train moving east on the south track. If, without waiting for the freight train to move far enough away
The crossing where Meitzner was killed was not a public crossing, that is, it had not been laid out or adopted pursuant to municipal authority; it was on the property of the defendant company and made by it for the convenience of passengers in passing between the stations on opposite sides of the tracks. But there was evidence that for many years it had been used by the general public as well, not only with the knowledge of the defendant company, but by its encouragement. The court properly instructed the jury that if they believed this evidence Meitzner was not a trespasser, and that the defendant company owed him the same duty that it owed passengers using the crossing.
In plaintiff’s statement the defendant company was described as a corporation of the state of Pennsylvania. An amendment was allowed describing it as a corporation of the state of Maryland. The defendant was in court, and the change brought no new party on the record. The amendment was properly allowed: Wright v. Copper Co., 206 Pa. 274.
In what we have said the several assignments of error have been considered. They are overruled and the- judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Meitzner v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company
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- Syllabus
- Negligence — Railroads—Crossing tracks — '-Conflicting statements of plaintiff’s witness. 1. In an action against a railroad company for the death of plaintiff's husband killed on railroad .tracks at a crossing, where the plaintiff's case rests largely upon the testimony of the only person who saw the accident from beginning to end, the fact that such witness'makes contradictory and wholly irreconcilable statements, does not in itself make the case one for binding instructions for defendant. It is for the jury to decide what credit they will give the witness, and which of his statements, if either, they will accept. 2. In passing upon a motion for nonsuit, where the evidence for the plaintiff is contradictory, it is the duty of the court to allow it the significance most favorable to plaintiff, since for all the court may know, that view may prevail with the jury. 3. In an action to recover damages for the death of a person killed at a crossing which was not a public crossing, laid out or adopted by municipal authority, it appeared that the crossing was on the property of the defendant railroad company, and had been made by it for the convenience of passengers in passing between stations on opposite sides of the tracks. For many years it had been used by the general public as well, not only with the knowledge of the defendant company, but by its encouragement. The deceased was not a passenger. Held,, that it was proper for the court to charge that if the jury believed the evidence as to the crossing, the deceased was not a trespasser, and that the defendant owed him the same duty that it owed passengers using the crossing. Amendment — Practice, C. P. — Name of corporation — Railroad company. 4. Where in an action of trespass the plaintiff's statement improperly describes the defendant railroad company as a corporation of the state of Pennsylvania, an amendment may be allowed so as to correctly describe it as á corporation of the state of Maryland. In such a case the defendant is in court, and the change brings no new party on the record.