Court Opinion

ID: 9699164
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 20:12:05.413987+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:47.064887
License: Public Domain

Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Chief Justice Bell :
■ I concur in the majority opinion insofar as the judgment against Crane is affirmed, the judgment against the County is reversed and judgment n.o.v. is entered in favor of the County. However, I would reverse the judgment against Universal South Side Autos, Inc., and here enter judgment non obstante veredicto in its favor.
In Bohner v. Eastern Express, Inc., 405 Pa. 463, 175 A. 2d 864, we said (page 470) : “While ‘ “[O]rdi-narily the question whether the negligence of a defend*356ant is a proximate cause of the accident is for the fact-finding tribunal . . ., where . . . the remoteness of the causal connection between defendants’ negligence and plaintiff’s injury clearly appears from the evidence, the question becomes one of law [for the Court] ’ Kaplan v. Kaplan, 404 Pa., supra; Listino v. Union Paving Co., 386 Pa., supra.”
It is clear from the uncontradicted testimony of defendant Crane, — who drove the car which had the alleged defective brakes and caused the injury and who more than anyone else should have known what went on during those few fateful moments when plaintiff suffered his injuries — that defective brakes were not the proximate, efficient and procuring cause of the accident. In this respect Crane testified: “Q. Your automobile was moving at that time? A. Yes, sir. Q. How fast? .A. I’d say about approximately 15, 20 miles per hour. Q. What did you do then? A. When the light changed, I started through the intersection. Q. Did you alter your speed? Did you give it any more gas? A. I might have gassed it up a little more. I couldn’t be honest with you, sir. Q. Had you applied your brake for that intersection? A. When I started through the intersection, no, sir. Q. When had you last applied your brake before you arrived, or rather, before this accident happened when had you last applied your brake? A. At the light for Sarah Street. Q. Which brake was that? A. Foot brake. Q. Did it function? Did it start retarding the car? A. It stopped the car, yes. . . . Q. Where was this motorcycle with the policeman on it when you first saw it? A. When I first seen him make contact with me. That’s when the accident happened. I mean when I hit the motorcycle, I seen the poor man flying through the air. Q. Did you see it before you struck it? A. No, sir, I didn’t. . . . Q. When you first saw the motorcycle, what did you do? A. When I first saw him, when I made contact *357with him was the first I saw him. So I reached for my emergency and tried with my foot. The foot brake didn’t hold, didn’t seem to hold, and I lost control of the car and ran into the pole.”
This testimony clearly proves that (1) Crane’s brakes were able to stop the car one block before, and (2) Crane did not see plaintiff until he struck him. From this it follows that the condition of the brakes at the time of the accident, even assuming arguendo that they were not in perfect condition, had absolutely nothing to do with causing the accident.