Fern v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company

• Decision Date: 03 July 1915
• Docket Number: 160
• Parties: Fern v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Appellant
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

95 A. 590

250 Pa. 487

Fern v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Appellant

No. 160

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

July 3, 1915

Argued May 12, 1915

Appeal, No. 160, Jan. T., 1915, by defendant, from judgment of C.P. Northumberland Co., December T., 1913, No. 316, on verdict for plaintiff in case of Thomas J. Fern v. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Affirmed.

Trespass to recover damages for personal injuries. Before CUMMINGS P.J.

The opinion of the Supreme Court states the facts.

Verdict for plaintiff for $4,734.50 and judgment thereon. Defendant appealed.

Error assigned, among others, was in refusing defendant's motion for judgment n.o.v.

The judgment is affirmed.

J Simpson Kline, with him George B. Reimensnyder, for appellant.

L. S. Walter, with him F. H. Strouss, for appellee.

Before BROWN, C.J., MESTREZAT, ELKIN, MOSCHZISKER and FRAZER, JJ.

OPINION

MR. JUSTICE MESTREZAT:

This is an action by a passenger to recover damages for injuries which he alleges he sustained by reason of the negligence of the defendant carrier. The negligence alleged is permitting the front vestibule platform of the car on which the plaintiff was riding to be in an improper and unsafe condition for egress from the car by passengers which resulted in the plaintiff's injuries. The defendant denies that the evidence disclosed any negligence on its part, and alleges that the plaintiff's injuries resulted from his own negligence. The facts may be summarized as follows: The plaintiff, a resident of Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania, was returning home on March 4, 1913, from a trip to the western part of the State, where he had attended the funeral of a relative. He entered the smoking car of one of defendant's trains at Johnstown, Pa., about 9:11 p.m. to go to Sunbury, Pennsylvania. The train arrived at Altoona about 10:36 p.m. and made a stop of from seven to eight minutes. When the train arrived at Altoona the plaintiff placed some newspapers, containing an account of the funeral which he had attended, on his seat, and left the car for a moment by the rear end, to see a friend, and when he reentered, he discovered his papers were gone. He asked a newsboy what had become of the papers and was told that a trainman had "just gone into the baggage car with the papers." He went forward in search of the papers to the front door of the smoker and as he got there he met a trainman who had just come out of the baggage car and closed the door behind him. This was the next car in front of the smoker. The plaintiff inquired if he had seen any one with his papers and the trainman replied that the man had been in the baggage car with the papers, and pointing out through the open vestibule door added: "There's the man out there now." The plaintiff turned, looked and saw a man with his papers standing on the train platform in front of and about fifteen feet from the door. He attempted to leave the car by the open vestibule door. He put his hand against the railing or the side of the vestibule and moved his foot forward to what he supposed was the offset leading to the first step, moved his foot down and his body forward, fell to the station platform and was severely injured. The vestibule door was open but the trapdoor covering the steps leading to the station platform was not raised. The trainman who directed the plaintiff's attention to the party standing on the station platform who had the papers called to the plaintiff as he fell but too late to prevent the accident.

The plaintiff testified that the light in the vestibule was very dim or out; that it was so dark he could not see the trapdoor or steps; that the arc lights shining in his face from the station platform and from the streets of Altoona dazzled and blinded his eyes; that he assumed the trapdoor over the vestibule steps was up since the vestibule door was wide open; that he more particularly rested on this assumption because the train was at a regular dining station where an extended stop was made and where the passengers, by implication, were invited to leave the train to secure refreshments.

It appeared from the defendant's evidence, and it is uncontradicted, that the vestibule door was closed when the train arrived at Altoona.

The case was submitted to the jury and a verdict was returned for the plaintiff. Judgment was entered on the verdict and the defendant has taken this appeal. The defendant contends that the evidence failed to disclose any negligence on its part, that there is no presumption of negligence on the part of the defendant, and that the plaintiff was required to prove some negligent act of the defendant which resulted in his injuries. It is also contended by the defendant that the plaintiff did not show how the vestibule door became open or that it stood open a sufficient length of time to charge the defendant with negligence. It is further claimed that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence in that, if he had exercised proper care and used his eyes, he could have discovered that the trapdoor was down before he attempted to leave the car.

It may be considered as settled, in the language of AGNEW, J., in Meier v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 64 Pa. 225, 230, that a presumption of negligence arises from an accident to a passenger when it is caused by a defect in the road, cars or machinery, or by want of diligence or care in those employed, or by any other thing which the company can and ought to control as a part of its duty, to carry passengers safely. In Thomas v. Philadelphia & Reading R.R. Co., 148 Pa. 180, Chief Justice PAXSON says (p. 183): "The rule appears to be that, where a passenger is injured, either by anything done or omitted by the carrier, its employees, or anything connected with the appliances of transportation, the burden of proof is upon the carrier to show that such injury was in no way the result of its negligence." Mr. Justice THOMPSON, delivering the opinion in Fleming v. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Ry., 158 Pa. 130, 135, says: "This presumption (of negligence on the part of the carrier) necessarily arises from the contract of carriage, under which the passenger passively trusts himself to the safety of the carrier's means of transportation, and to the skill, diligence and care of his servants; and by which the carrier, in consideration of the fare, undertakes to carry safely, and, to do so, to furnish the best means and appliances for the purpose, and competent, skillful and diligent servants. An accident connected with them raises the presumption that they were not such, and that the carrier was guilty of negligence."

It is the duty of a carrier of passengers, not only to furnish a safe means of conveyance, but also proper and safe means of ingress to and egress from its train and cars: Mack v Pittsburgh Rys. Co., 247 Pa. 598. It is likewise its duty, not only to furnish safe appliances and means for transporting passengers safely, but also to furnish safe means for their exit at their destination or at such other proper points on the line of the road as they desire to leave the car. Any disarrangement or displacement of the car platform which results in injury to a...