Algard v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.
Algard v. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Plaintiff sued to recover for personal injuries sustained in a collision between one of defendant’s cars and a wagon upon which he was seated and driving. A verdict was rendered for plaintiff and, following a refusal by the court below to sustain a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto and entry of judgment for plaintiff, defendant appealed.
On October 12, 1917, about 6:40 p. m., plaintiff was driving westward on Erie avenue in the City of Philadelphia, on which street defendant operates its cars on a double line of tracks located in the center of the roadway. At a point between Fourth and Fifth streets, by reason of repairs being made to a bridge, a part of the street above the tracks of a steam railroad, the right
The entire roadway on the north side of the street, together with the westbound track between the bridge and the point where the collision occurred, was obstructed by switches and 'bridge building materials. Plaintiff testified that, owing to the obstructions and dangerous condition of the street at the north side, he turned his team to the left or south roadway, and, as the distance he was obliged to travel was the same regardless of the direction in which he attempted to go, the turning of his team to the left was not the cause of the accident. He delayed leaving the track, according to his testimony,
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Negligence — Street railways — Collision between trolley car and wagon — Obstruction of street — Driving on tracks — Duty of motorman— Contributory negligence — Absence of light — Proximate cause — Anticipating care. 1. While, ordinarily, a motorman is under no duty to anticipate an approaching vehicle or car westward on an eastbound track, yet where he knows that the street is obstructed and closed on the side usually devoted to westbound traffic, he is bound to anticipate and watch out for vehicles approaching on the eastbound track. 2. If the extent of a motorman’s vision through the window in front of him, is diminished or interfered with by drizzling rain falling on the glass at the time, it is his duty to remove the hindrance to his view of the track, before proceeding. 3. In an action against a street railway company to recover damages for personal injuries to a driver of a wagon injured in a collision with an electric car, the plaintiff cannot be convicted of contributory negligence as a matter of law, if there is nothing to show conclusively that the absence of a light was a contributing cause to the collision, or that the presence of a light, had the plaintiff carried one, might have aided the motorman to see the wagon. 4. In such a case, where it appears that the defendant operated a double track railway on the street where the collision occurred, that the street was obstructed on the side usually devoted to westbound traffic, necessitating the use of the eastbound track for both eastbound and westbound traffic, and that plaintiff was obliged to turn from the westbound track into the eastbound track to avoid the obstruction, it was the plaintiff’s duty again to resume his proper position on the westbound portion of the roadway after having passed the obstructions; but he could not be held negligent, as a matter of law, merely because, with obstructions continuing on the north, he followed the course of westbound car traffic and used the eastbound track until he could reach a safe place to turn off into the roadway south of the track, although this imposed on him the necessity of exercising a higher degree of caution than is required under ordinary circumstances. He had also the right to assume that the motorman of any approaching car would use such additional caution as the existing conditions demanded.