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Mountz v. North Versailles Township

Mountz v. North Versailles Twp., 72 A. 345 (Pa. 1909)
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Court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · State Highest Courts
Decided
January 4, 1909
Docket
Nos. s, Nos. 175 and 176
Judges
Brown, Elkin, Fell, Mestrezat, Stewart
Citations
72 A. 345223 Pa. 1631909 Pa. LEXIS 498
Disposition
Affirmed.
Syllabus
Negligence — Township—Hole in road; — Question for jury. In an action by a woman against a township to recover damages for personal injuries caused by a fall in a hole in a road, the evidence showed that on one side of the road there was a bank that sloped to a stream several feet below. The bank had in places been worn away by the action of water, and the bed of the road was undermined. At one place where the traveled way was only eight or nine feet wide, there was a hole at the side of the road seven feet deep which had existed there for several weeks. The plaintiff knew of it, and while walking with her daughter on a dark night, tried to avoid it by keeping in the middle of the road. She stepped within eighteen inches of the hole, and the earth gave way under her feet. Held, that the case was for the jury and that a verdict and judgment for plaintiff should be sustained.
Summary
Appeals, Nos. 175 and 176, Oct. T., 1908, by defendant, from judgment of C. P. No. 1, Allegheny Co., June T., 1903, No. 212, on verdict for plaintiffs in cases of Lawrence Mountz and Margaret E. Mountz, his wife, v. North Versailles Township. Trespass to recover damages for personal injuries. Before Ford, J. The circumstances of the accident are stated in the opinion of the Supreme Court. Verdict and judgment for Margaret E. Mountz for $6,000 and for Lawrence Mountz for $3,Q00. Defendant appealed. Error assigned amongst others was in refusing binding instructions for defendant.

Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.

Opinion of the Court

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Per Curiam,

Margaret E. Mountz, one of the plaintiffs, was injured by falling into a hole at the side of a public road. The main question presented by the appeal is whether a case of negligence on the part of the township was made out, clear of contributory negligence on her part. On one side of the road there ivas a bank that sloped to a stream several feet below. According to the plaintiff’s testimony the bank had in places been worn away by the action of water, and the bed of the road was undermined. At one place where the traveled way was only eight or nine feet wide, there was a hole at the side of the road seven feet deep. This hole had existed for several weeks. The plaintiff knew of it and while walking with her daughter on a dark night, tried to avoid it by keeping in the middle of the road. She stepped within eighteen inches of the hole, and the earth gave way under her foot. The testimony showed gross negligence by the township authorities and the exercise of care by her. She was not proceeding heedlessly in the presence of a known danger. Whether under the circumstances she should have taken greater care was not a question to be decided by the court.

The judgment is affirmed.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

1937: 119372026peak 1937 · 1

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Amey v. Scranton193 A. 278 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1937)

Most recent

  1. Amey v. Scranton193 A. 278 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1937)

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