Coulter v. Pine Township
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 160, Oct. T., 1894, by defendant, from judgment of C. P. Mercer Co., Jan. T., 1894, No. 44, on verdict for plaintiffs. Trespass for death of husband. Before Mehard, P. J. At the trial it appeared that, on Oct. 5, 1893, Joseph C. Coulter was killed by a traction engine, which he was driving, breaking through a township bridge. The bridge in question had been reconstructed in 1888, by the supervisors of defendant township.
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Appeal, No. 160, Oct. T., 1894, by defendant, from judgment of C. P. Mercer Co., Jan. T., 1894, No. 44, on verdict for plaintiffs. Trespass for death of husband. Before Mehard, P. J. At the trial it appeared that, on Oct. 5, 1893, Joseph C. Coulter was killed by a traction engine, which he was driving, breaking through a township bridge. The bridge in question had been reconstructed in 1888, by the supervisors of defendant township. Evidence for plaintiff tended to show that traction engines had been in general use in the neighborhood where the accident occurred for about ten years before the…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mb. Justice Mitchell,
This case is governed by Clulow v. McClelland, 151 Pa. 583, but it is an error to suppose that that case, or Com. v. Allen, 148 Pa. 358, decided as matter of law that the moving of traction engines for steam threshing and other purposes, over roads or bridges, was at that time an extraordinary or unlawful use of the public highways. On the contrary, the non-suit in Clulow v. McClelland was sustained expressly on the *548ground that “ plaintiffs themselves testified that they knew that the machine was a good deal heavier than the ordinary travel in the neighborhood,…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- Althorf v. . WolfeNew York Court of Appeals · 1860
- Sherlock v. AllingIndiana Supreme Court · 1873
- Harding v. Town of TownsendSupreme Court of Vermont · 1871
- North Pennsylvania Railroad v. KirkSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1879
- Commonwealth v. AllenSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1892
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3Cited by12 opinions
- Hammaker v. Watts TownshipSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1919
- Ridgeway v. Sayre Electric Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1917
- Heath v. Seattle Taxicab Co.Washington Supreme Court · 1913
- Wasser v. Northampton CountySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1915
- Gehringer v. Lehigh CountySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1911
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