Court Opinion

ID: 9766518
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:51:49.190176+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:23.523154
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Ervin, P. J.:
On June 12, 1962, at about 5:00 p.m., plaintiff was struck by an airport limousine owned by defendant as he was stepping on the sidewalk at the entrance to the limousine parking area at the Philadelphia International Airport. The limousine had been left in the parking area with the keys in the ignition and a 14-year old boy from the Devereaux School, in attempting to steal the vehicle, ran down the plaintiff. The limousine area, at the time of this accident, was an open lot adjacent to the northern part of the airport terminal and several hundred feet from the main entrance to the terminal building. This area was bounded by the building on one side and by sidewalks on the other sides. No fences or other devices were provided to keep persons out of the area.
*511Evidence was presented to show that numerous automobiles had been stolen from the airport public parking lot a short distance from the rental area. The sergeant of police testified that 10, 15 or 20 automobiles a year were stolen from this area. The rental services, such as Avis, Hertz and National Car Rental, all had vehicles stolen in the period before this occurrence. There was also evidence that youngsters had on numerous occasions vandalized the vehicles in the several parking lots and the limousine area, stealing hub caps, and other accessories. The sergeant of police and one of his officers testified that juveniles had created a real problem for them in and about the airport and that the problem involved breaking into cars and stealing accessories, slashing tires, putting sugar in tanks and stealing anything which could be turned to a quick dollar.
This problem has been considered in two recent opinions by our Supreme Court. In the case of Anderson v. Bushong Pontiac Co., 404 Pa. 382, 171 A. 2d 771 (1961), the court below had sustained preliminary objections to the complaint and entered judgment for the defendant. On appeal the Supreme Court reversed. The plaintiff pleaded that a 14-year old boy stole the keys from an automobile displayed for sale on defendant’s used car lot; that this boy habitually played in and about the cars on the lot; that the defendant knew of the key theft but failed to remove the car from the lot or use any other precautions to prevent its operation; that two days later while the lot was unattended another 14-year old boy, using the stolen keys, started the car and drove it off the lot and while operating the car negligently, injured the plaintiff, a pedestrian.
In the case of Liney v. Chestnut Motors, Inc., 421 Pa. 26, 218 A. 2d 336 (1966), the court below sustained preliminary objections to the complaint and dismissed the action. On appeal the action of the court below *512was affirmed. The plaintiff pleaded that an automobile was delivered to defendant’s garage for repairs and that the defendant allowed it to remain outside of the building, double parked in the street and with the key in the ignition; that the area had experienced a high and increasing number of automobile thefts, and that about three hours after the automobile was placed in the street it was stolen by an adult stranger, who then drove it around the block in such a careless manner that it mounted a sidewalk and struck the plaintiff, a pedestrian. In this case Anderson v. Bushong Pontiac Co., supra, is distinguished as follows: “In Anderson, several salient facts were present which are absent here. Those facts clearly put the defendant in that case on notice, not only that the automobile was likely to be stolen, but also that it was likely to be stolen and operated by an incompetent driver.” The Supreme Court did not overrule the prior case but it is quite apparent that it is restricting the ruling announced in Anderson v. Bushong Pontiac Co., supra, to the exact factual situation presented by that case. The present case definitely falls within that restricted area.
The evidence in the present case disclosed that at the time of the accident John McCracken was a principal shareholder and manager of the defendant. He made admissions to the plaintiff and his counsel which showed knowledge of prior thefts in the area and also knowledge that children and other unauthorized people had been moving the cars in the parking area. Because of this knowledge and prior to the time of the present accident, he had given instructions to his drivers to remove the keys from the cars when parking them in tills area. There was other evidence introduced sufficient to show that the defendant either knew or should have known, not only that cars were frequently being stolen from the parking areas but also that juveniles were involved in a number of these cases.
*513The present case was tried before the Hon. John J. McDevitt, 3rd, sitting without a jury, who, after viewing the evidence as a whole and reconciling the differences and contradictions therein, found that the defendant had sufficient knowledge of the presence or likely presence of children in the area, of thefts of cars by both children and adults, and pilferage and vandalism of automobiles in the area. He also found that leaving keys in the ignition of a vehicle under these circumstances created the foreseeable risk that some child might attempt to steal the vehicle and that the theft of defendant’s vehicle by a 14-year old boy was not a superseding cause.
After á verdict for the plaintiff, the defendant filed exceptions, which were dismissed by the court in banc, and judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff.
The question of the proximate cause of an accident is almost always one for the jury: Anderson v. Bushong Pontiac Co., supra, at page 391. A trial judge’s verdict, like a jury’s, should be overruled only where his findings of fact are clearly erroneous or arbitrary or where the record discloses that the trial judge failed to comprehend or understand the evidence: Williams v. H. E. Stoudt & Son, Inc., 404 Pa. 377, 172 A. 2d 278 (1961). There was ample evidence in the present case to justify the action of the court below and I would affirm the judgment entered.
Watkins and Hoffman, JJ., join in this dissenting opinion.