Harvey v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.
Harvey v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In this action, the plaintiff sought to recover damages for injuries which he alleged resulted from the negligence of an employee of the defendant company. The specific negligence charged was the failure of a motorman to exercise proper control in the operation of a trolley car, in consequence of which, it was averred, there was a collision between the trolley car and an automobile which was being driven along the street by the plaintiff. The accident occurred on the evening of January 17, 1913, shortly after nine o’clock, on Market street, Philadelphia, near the west end of the bridge over the Schuylkill river, and at the point where the tracks leading to the subway diverge from the line of tracks on Market street. Plaintiff testified that he was driving westwardly over the bridge between the west bound track and the north line of the roadway. As he approached the cross-over switch, he says he met an east bound trolley car, which proceeded along Market street. A short distance behind it came another car bound for the subway. The latter car would cross Market street in a diagonal direction. Plaintiff said that when he last
The first assignment of error is sustained, the judgment is reversed, and is here entered for the defendant.
Reference
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- Harvey v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company
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- Syllabus
- Negligence — Street railways — Automobile—Street car diagonally crossing street — Head-on collision — Contributory negligence — Judgment for defendant n. o. v. 1. In an action against a street railway company to recover for injuries sustained by the driver of an automobile in a collision with a trolley ear where it clearly appeared that, while the trolley car was crossing a street diagonally, plaintiff approached and ran violently into the car; that the motorman in charge had it under full control, and was proceeding cautiously and must have been in plain view of any one approaching, and that if he saw the automobile he would have been justified in assuming that it would stop before reaching the track, or turn so as to avoid a collision, there was no evidence of the defendant’s negligence and the case should have' been withdrawn from the jury. 2. Where in such case it appeared that at the point of collision there was a street space sixty feet wide on the side of the track on which plaintiff approached, he was guilty of contributory negligence in failing either to stop and let the car pass, or to give it a wide berth by turning to either side.