Hochheiser v. Pittsburg Railways Co.
Hochheiser v. Pittsburg Railways Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
“The appellant here complains of the refusal by the court below to enter judgment in its favor, non obstante veredicto.
The testimony on the part of the plaintiff was to the effect that he was driving westwardly on the west-bound track of the defendant company, and found it necessary to turn out to let a car pass him, which was approaching from the rear. He could not turn to the right because of obstructions, and therefore turned to the left upon the other, which was the east,bound track. Before doing so, he says he saw no car approaching upon that track. After the car behind him had passed, he immediately started to go back to the west-bound track, but before he could clear the east-bound track his wagon was struck by a car approaching from the west, and he was injured. The evidence is somewhat confusing, but we cannot say that the testimony of the plaintiff presents an impossible story. Counsel for appellant argue that plaintiff must have driven immediately in front of the car which struck him, when it was so close as to render the accident unavoidable. Had this been the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the testimony, the case should not have been left to the jury. But the theory of appellant in this respect is based upon a partial view only of the evidence and it takes into account only the estimate which was made by the plaintiff of the distance which he traveled upon the east-bound track, and which was clearly nothing more than a guess. Plaintiff did say that after turn
Our examination of all the evidence satisfies us that the trial judge was right in refusing to take the case from the jury, and in refusing to enter judgment non obstante veredicto, in favor of the defendant company.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.